ENVIRONMENT Secretary Hilary Benn faces being hauled before a Commons committee unless he backs down on the Government's refusal to pay compensation for the disastrous Single Farm Payments scheme.

The prospect of the minister having to give further evidence would be a new low in relations between Parliament and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

It follows a demand from the Parliamentary Ombudsman for compensation to be paid in a handful of cases where farmers suffered "direct personal and financial" loss at the hands of the department and the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).

The claims relate to the disastrous implementation of the SFP system in 2005. In the first year of operation, payments of around £1.5 billion were not completed. Some farmers suffered underpayments totalling £19.3 million.

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Last month Ann Abraham, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, was highly critical of Defra's refusal to pay compensation in 24 cases where she had found "maladministration".

Now Labour MP Tony Wright, chairman of the public administration select committee, has told Mr Benn to "take another look" at the demand for compensation.

Mr Wright said the committee was "deeply concerned" by apparent splits between Defra and the Ombudsman, and suggested the department did not understand the report.

He said the case was "almost unprecedented" for the Government to refuse payment where small sums are involved.

In a letter to Mr Benn, Mr Wright said the committee was "mystified" about why the Government will not pay out.

"The reasons Defra has provided explaining its position give the impression of a Department looking for arguments to dispute the Ombudsman's findings," he said.

He accused Defra of "misunderstanding" the Ombudsman's report and at times "taking an adversarial rather than a common-sense, compassionate approach to people who have undoubtedly suffered injustice".

"Where the Government disagrees with the Ombudsman's approach to remedy, it should have strong, politically defensible reasons for doing so," Mr Wright said.

He said Mr Benn should "reconsider" his response to the compensation call, adding: "If there has been no new announcement from the Department by the end of the month, we will need to consider asking you to explain the existing position to us in hope, however, that this will not he necessary."

A Defra spokesman said the department was taking the matter "very seriously".