Following on from our blog five days ago about the subsidy penalty imposed against the Stody Estate as a result of their gamekeeper’s criminal poisoning activities (see here), the Rural Payments Agency has now clarified the actual size of the penalty:
There’s something odd about this. Converting the penalty from Euros to Sterling using a currency converter app, the subsidy penalty amounts to £184, 745.08 (although the app used by Mark Avery has calculated the conversion to be £192, 160.63). Whatevs! Whichever calculation is accurate, it’s still a huge penalty and that’s good. And it still represents the highest known subsidy penalty imposed in the UK for cross-compliance breaches related to raptor persecution offences.
However, both of these amounts are considerably less than the amount we had calculated in our earlier blog five days ago.
We had previously calculated the penalty to be £221,946.75, which was 75% of the SPS subsidy that Stody Estate had received in 2014. We got the information about the amount of subsidy the Stody Estate had received in 2014 by doing a search on CAP Payments.
When you compare our first calculation of what the penalty was (£221, 946.75), with the amount the Rural Payments Agency now say the penalty is (£184, 745.08 OR £192, 160.63), it becomes clear that around £37,000 worth of potential subsidy penalty has apparently gone missing.
So either the data on the CAP Payments website are inaccurate, or the Rural Payments Agency has miscalculated and imposed a smaller penalty than they should.
Not sure we have the appetite for going back to the RPA to ask for clarification – it’s too much like hard work for a Friday afternoon. We’re quite content just to know that the penalty has finally been imposed and that the Stody Estate has had to suffer serious financial consequences as a result of the criminal actions of their gamekeeper. Good stuff.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Here here
Brilliant stuff, you deserve a medal.
However, what if our Rural friends have made a miscalculation?
Must be worth a simple question?
You’re right. Although recent experience predicts that their response will be cryptic and probably lead to more emails having to be sent. Nevertheless, we will write to them again.
If you (or anyone else) would also like to join in, here’s their email address:
ATIHelpdesk@rpa.gsi.gov.uk
Well done all. I have to admit that pessimism pervades all of my thoughts regarding raptor persecution and I couldn’t believe that the penalty would actually be imposed!
With much relief and with the sun over the yard arm I think my wife and I should pour a glass of wine in celebration and toast you fine fellows who have pursued this on all our behalves. Cheers.
One would hope that the RPA would be aware that this blog has an interest in this matter, and would be quick to clarify the discrepancy. Lets wait and see their PR person earn their money.
Well done RPS, a good result,
Thanks, Bill, but it wasn’t just us. A lot of people helped apply pressure on the RPA to act. It’s a win for all of us!
Haa, you could have bought an awful lot of pheasant poults for that amount of money, that bent gamekeeper deserves a right good cymagging, its been a stain on the whole profession.
Well at least a local paper has publicised this – but I haven’t seen anything in the national press. Has anyone else?
http://www.fakenhamtimes.co.uk/news/norfolk_estate_loses_more_than_200_000_in_eu_farm_subsidies_because_gamekeeper_poisoned_birds_of_prey_1_4319659
This needs more publicity in the (vain?) hope that is might prove a deterrent to others.