The two-stage review process for farmers appealing decisions made by DAERA in area-based schemes is to be reformed for the 2017 scheme year onwards.

In a statement published on its website on Monday, the Department said that it is proposing to launch a consultation on reforming the review process.

“The new process is likely to be in place during 2017,” the statement said.

The Department has also published details of a new “fast-track” option for the stage two review of decisions. This relates to decisions made in the 2015 and 2016 scheme years that were not overturned by a DAERA case officer at stage one.

The new option aims to speed up the process following “an unprecedented increase” in the number of review applications after the introduction of a new payment system in 2015 that brought with it new rules such as the active farmer requirement. “This has impacted on the time taken to complete stage two reviews under the original process, which is already known to be a slow process,” the Department said.

The fast-track review is carried out by a case officer from DAERA and takes less than three months. The case officer completes a report which includes details of the case, comments made by the applicant and the Department’s position on the case. The report is then presented to a senior DAERA official for a final decision to be made.

External panel

The original stage two process is still an option for applicants. This involves a two-person external panel reviewing the case based on written or oral evidence.

The external panel also only make a recommendation to a senior DAERA official who then makes the final decision in the case.

DAERA describes the external panel option for stage two as “a lengthy process” and cannot commit to a timeframe for duration of the review.

The fast-track option is free of charge and the external panel option for stage two costs £50 for a written review and £100 for an oral review. However, fees are refunded if the decision is changed by the DAERA official.