Defra User Research - Rural Payments Agency

JP1

Member
Livestock Farmer
That's very kind, thank you - glad to be back

(I was worried you'd all think I'd done a runner having not signed in for a while, and there doesn't seem to be any way I could find on here to indicate that I wasn't around in the way you can on eg Twitter by just doing a tweet - if anyone knows how to do that on here, I'd love to know so I can let you all know if I'm not going to be here for a bit! cc @Clive )
I actually think your stock is highly respected within TFF with your continual willingness to engage . Glad you're on the mend
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
That's very kind, thank you - glad to be back

(I was worried you'd all think I'd done a runner having not signed in for a while, and there doesn't seem to be any way I could find on here to indicate that I wasn't around in the way you can on eg Twitter by just doing a tweet - if anyone knows how to do that on here, I'd love to know so I can let you all know if I'm not going to be here for a bit! cc @Clive )

when a user is online a green dot icon appears under their user icon avatar - see for example @steveR is online right now as I reply

Screenshot 2022-03-29 at 13.02.13.png



There is no specific functionality here to say you are "away". but you could set a message in your signature to say you were unavailable if you know you are going to be offline for a while - that message will then appear on every post you have ever mad on the forum - you do this in your profile settings > set signature. - see my "follow me on twitter etc" sig at the foot of this post, an away message would appear there
 
when a user is online a green dot icon appears under their user icon avatar - see for example @steveR is online right now as I reply

View attachment 1025647


There is no specific functionality here to say you are "away". but you could set a message in your signature to say you were unavailable if you know you are going to be offline for a while - that message will then appear on every post you have ever mad on the forum - you do this in your profile settings > set signature. - see my "follow me on twitter etc" sig at the foot of this post, an away message would appear there
ah ok that's a good idea, thanks, I will do that in future :)
 

Dave645

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
N Lincs
My name is Rachel and I'm a User Research Consultant from a design consultancy called Hippo Digital. With my colleague Charlotte, we're working on a 6 week piece of discovery research on behalf of Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

We'd like to speak to Farmers and relevant people to help us better understand their experiences of calling the DEFRA rural services helpline (03000 200 301) and contact centres, finding information online and contacting the organisation via email. You may have also contacted a related agency that is part of Defra, such as the Plant Health Line, or CITES.

Farmers may have used the helpline for a variety of reasons, such as finding information on imports and exports, any basic payment enquiries or to get information on schemes. We'd be really interested in speaking to some of the farming community network as part of this research, so we can better understand their experiences and challenges.

To register interest and receive further information, please see the following online form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsfW-G-7tEATdg3BDAiY0NBHsD9irnlyxZO3oqo_waRIw-Iw/viewform

Thank you very much
Options to improve things.
1. Stop with the rubbish one number system where all call go through a long recorded message system with number options, if some level of this is still needed, link The options onto a website so we can see the link option chain and select the section of defra we want and the number options we need to use to get to where we want to get. And make the call system except this number codes to short cut the recorded messages.

Better still have an app or webpage that does the selection presses and dumps out a dedicated number to the app user.
Or a video chat option or text chat for that section. And or a link to relevant info, on your website.



2. An app that helps users find the right consultant to talk to. Or webpage help files that are relevant, with up or down votes if the info was relevant to the question. Don’t forget videos can be useful.

3. put a human on the system earlier to direct a farmers call, to a correct number again with up or down votes to if the farmer was directed to the right place.
P.s.
I am good at finding info I require but I find search on DEFRA website to be useless, it’s easier to use an external search engine to find relavant info on your website than the search built into your website.
Or I rely on links in emails sent to me as finding it from your front end website is near impossible.
a smart question chain on your front end including links to log in pages, where questions can be narrowed down faster, including schemes open to the member that logs in.


4. Let farmers login to their account and start questions, let’s say I have a problem with a field it could be anything an option change I want or mapping issue or selling it etc, if I am logged in and select that field parcel and click help, then a dialog could pop up that asks what with, and a selection question chain.
At the end with the system knowing what options I have set on the field it can narrow the question chain.
If I select scheme options, selling it, etc. this can dump out to a smart robot that can do chat, if that fails then a phone call/video call to a relevant party.
The fact I am logged in means a lot of security is passed and my details should be up, my question narrowed down well, so a quick chat should sort it.

5. a feed back system for logged on users when an application is submitted, some form of system to traffic light it’s progress, if it hits a block because there is a problem, that will delay payments or missing info, then the system should say so, and when the message is read, it should contain a contact system to talk to who knows about the problem and how to solve it directly either via online text message or video chat.
Again smart chat bots can filter the simple stuff out leaving only the tricky stuff, but again the message sender on the DEFRA side can also filter that if the answer is going to require a call then that is setup in the message they leave, not a link to a robot chat engine.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
Options to improve things.
1. Stop with the rubbish one number system where all call go through a long recorded message system with number options, if some level of this is still needed, link The options onto a website so we can see the link option chain and select the section of defra we want and the number options we need to use to get to where we want to get. And make the call system except this number codes to short cut the recorded messages.

Better still have an app or webpage that does the selection presses and dumps out a dedicated number to the app user.
Or a video chat option or text chat for that section. And or a link to relevant info, on your website.



2. An app that helps users find the right consultant to talk to. Or webpage help files that are relevant, with up or down votes if the info was relevant to the question. Don’t forget videos can be useful.

3. put a human on the system earlier to direct a farmers call, to a correct number again with up or down votes to if the farmer was directed to the right place.
P.s.
I am good at finding info I require but I find search on DEFRA website to be useless, it’s easier to use an external search engine to find relavant info on your website than the search built into your website.
Or I rely on links in emails sent to me as finding it from your front end website is near impossible.
a smart question chain on your front end including links to log in pages, where questions can be narrowed down faster, including schemes open to the member that logs in.


4. Let farmers login to their account and start questions, let’s say I have a problem with a field it could be anything an option change I want or mapping issue or selling it etc, if I am logged in and select that field parcel and click help, then a dialog could pop up that asks what with, and a selection question chain.
At the end with the system knowing what options I have set on the field it can narrow the question chain.
If I select scheme options, selling it, etc. this can dump out to a smart robot that can do chat, if that fails then a phone call/video call to a relevant party.
The fact I am logged in means a lot of security is passed and my details should be up, my question narrowed down well, so a quick chat should sort it.

5. a feed back system for logged on users when an application is submitted, some form of system to traffic light it’s progress, if it hits a block because there is a problem, that will delay payments or missing info, then the system should say so, and when the message is read, it should contain a contact system to talk to who knows about the problem and how to solve it directly either via online text message or video chat.
Again smart chat bots can filter the simple stuff out leaving only the tricky stuff, but again the message sender on the DEFRA side can also filter that if the answer is going to require a call then that is setup in the message they leave, not a link to a robot chat engine.
Never going to happen however much sense all of this makes solid sense...

1,2 and 3 are much needed.

An IT system as you describe, will cost upwards of £500m... and still not work after 3 years. When it does work properly after, say, 5-6 years, the schemes will all change or go, making the system redundant.
 

Hampton

Member
BASIS
Location
Shropshire
Great - really glad to hear that :)
Hi Janet
Is it possible to arrange a Livestock information service meeting whereby we as farmers could be briefed and updated about what’s going on with the new multi species computer programme, how it will affect farmers, how we will access are information, who is allowed to access the information, and also when it is likely to come on stream.
I think this forum would be a good platform for this and also allow the livestock farmers on here to provide feedback.

thank you
 

Dave645

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
N Lincs
Never going to happen however much sense all of this makes solid sense...

1,2 and 3 are much needed.

An IT system as you describe, will cost upwards of £500m... and still not work after 3 years. When it does work properly after, say, 5-6 years, the schemes will all change or go, making the system redundant.
Lol if they do it, it could cost 500 million.
an app would cost a lot less, and chat systems are on a lot of website already. So adopting them behind a login system would probably be a plug in system.
 

JP1

Member
Livestock Farmer
I'll start

If you ring the DEFRA main number it's answered in Liverpool and they are the most nasty, unhelpful, almost militant bunch of disinterested folks out there

Going on from that the option menu takes a minimum of 2 and a half minutes to listen through pressing options and then once you've selected the correct option, it's pot luck if anyone answers

Going on from that RPA and APHA don't cross reference their systems or procedures

You can never speak with a decision maker directly

DEFRA got raided for Brexit preparedness and then when you're back on post you're in to job creation . Prime example 5 year under 8 hour livestock transporter authorisations - why even the need? Grant them based on due diligence and remove them for legally proven transgressions. Otherwise leave them in perpetuity just like the personal animal species CPC

Same with RPA temporary land associations. Just compel the registered holding number to notify you when the TLA ends?

And as for losing BCMS to a multi species new organisation , I have to ask does anyone in the non-farming (food only in reference now) DEFRA actually care about farmers anyway?
By the way I did my hour session with @RachelHippoDigital and colleague on Monday evening
 

JP1

Member
Livestock Farmer
Hi Janet
Is it possible to arrange a Livestock information service meeting whereby we as farmers could be briefed and updated about what’s going on with the new multi species computer programme, how it will affect farmers, how we will access are information, who is allowed to access the information, and also when it is likely to come on stream.
I think this forum would be a good platform for this and also allow the livestock farmers on here to provide feedback.

thank you
This was suggested by @Clive back in November or so as I understand
 

PostHarvest

Member
Location
Warwick
When I last tried to call DEFRA helpline. it took so long to work my way through 101 layers of press this and press that, then waiting for someone to answer - which they never did - that I racked up a phone bill of £6.50 to achieve absolutely nothing.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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    Votes: 61 35.5%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 27 15.7%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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