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back to article Part of CAP IT system may be scrapped after digital fail – MPs

The digital interface of the Rural Payments Agency's Common Agricultural Payments IT system – which was paused in an embarrassing U-turn last week – may not be reinstated, MPs heard yesterday. On Friday, the RPA decided to freeze part of the "digital by default" £154m CAP system and go back to a paper-based approach. This was …

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  1. Peter Gathercole Silver badge

    The last time I was involved in paper maps for field registration...

    ...what ended up happening were very long lines at the local Ordinance Survey offices trying to purchase the relevant maps to send off as the deadline approached.

    You could not use any of the popular and readily available scales, you had to use the 1 to 10,000 scale (about 6 inches to the mile) which show field boundaries, and which were only available in person from an OS local office. The queues were incredible. I spent over 8 hours in one trying to get three sheets for my father-in-law's farm.

    That was some time ago, but it was a real pain. I hope that what they've introduced is better now, because I understand that the OS local offices are no longer there!

    2 0 Reply
    1. TitterYeNot
      Reply Icon

      Re: The last time I was involved in paper maps for field registration...

      " I hope that what they've introduced is better now"

      Yes, I'm sure it'll be loads better this time around. It's not as if government projects have a track record for this sort of thing...

      </Hislop>

      2 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The last time I was involved in paper maps for field registration...

        "Yes, I'm sure it'll be loads better this time around."

        It probably is, as there's a range of intermediaries offering OS mapping for planning purposes. I had to get a 1:10,000 plan of my house just to apply for planning permission just to move a s0ddin' fence eighteen inches in my own garden, such is the all enveloping scope of the public sector. Getting the plan was easy and painless (so long as circa fifteen quid wasn't counted as pain), submitting a planning application to Numptyton Borough Council rather more painful.

        1 0 Reply
        1. Peter Gathercole Silver badge
          Reply Icon

          Re: The last time I was involved in paper maps for field registration...

          The problem was not getting the maps, it was getting the maps at the same time as all of the other farmers in the area doing the same! You've never seen such a group of grizzled, wind-burnt old codgers outside of a farm deadstock sale.

          Of course all of the large farmers just sent one of their workers to queue, or got their farm-agent to do it for them. As an IT specialist, I felt most out of place, not being able to talk of the field yield, soil heaviness, milk quota, lambing figures and the myriad of other farming jargon.

          It did make me think how intelligible we must be to other people sometimes!

          1 0 Reply
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's no surprise. I talked to one of the SMEs involved a while back (Praise be! Its an SME as per government guidelines. What could possibly go wrong?) and they had no clue about NFRs or SLAs. All pretty prototypes and not a clue about enterprise/production quality deliverables.

    0 0 Reply
  3. gloucester
    Joke

    Digital Savings

    So, 350M wasted last time, 154M wasted this time.

    That's a 196 million saving that the Cabinet Office can claim as a Digi-success then!

    (Unless they rack up more EU fines this go of course.)

    0 0 Reply
    1. BristolBachelor Gold badge
      Reply Icon
      Facepalm

      Re: Digital Savings

      You forgot to add in the 600M fine last time, so it cost 950M in total.

      The icon is because if it was in a film I wouldn't think it credible.

      0 0 Reply

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