AN unmitigated disaster with an abysmal track record that has no political accountability – that was the hard-hitting verdict on the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) delivered by the Conservative's leading spokesman on countryside affairs yesterday during a tour of Westcountry farms.

In an exclusive interview with the Western Morning News, Nick Herbert, Shadow Environment Secretary, said his party was taking a "steely-eyed look" at all of the "quango" agencies that now operated under Defra.

"The RPA has been an unmitigated disaster for farmers and taxpayers alike – it's cost the taxpayer millions of pounds in fines that we've had to pay to the EU, and it has cocked up payments to farmers and continues to do so," said Mr Herbert as he toured an apple farm near Taunton.

"The Government refuses to take any political accountability for the operation of the agency and has yet again announced a review of it. What we want is action. We want a root and branch reform to sort out the agency and we will certainly – should we win the election – be coming forward with proposals to pare down quangos that have grown up under Defra."

Fielding a question that there was a danger his party could make matters worse by reducing services offered by agencies, the shadow minister said: "If you talk to any business, they will tell you what matters is delivering value for money, efficiency, customer service.

"These are the principles we would like to apply – and frankly, the management of the RPA has been abysmal. The political accountability has been completely absent and that needs to change."

As an example, Mr Herbert said the agency's role in mapping farms so that EU subsidy payments could be made had been a disaster. "The new proposals were introduced at the worst time, when the farmers were busy with their harvest.

"We are putting too much regulatory burden on all businesses in this country, including farming. There are too many people with clipboards running around the countryside telling farmers and everyone else what to do.

"We need to find ways to reduce the bureaucratic burden and make farming easier – because growing food in this country is important. We have allowed too much food to be imported into this country – we are growing less than we were 10 years ago, and that has to change."

On the Government's general relationship with the countryside, Mr Herbert said: "I don't think the current Government gives a stuff for rural communities – they've never been interested in them.

"They've introduced legislation which has been contemptuous of rural people – they don't listen – and that's why we launched an agenda for action which said we need to respect rural communities. We need to listen to their concerns, we need to revive the rural economy and we need to return power to local people."

He said his party understood the "feeling of anger" that rural communities had not been listened to in recent years.

His day-long tour of Somerset began at Sharpham Park organic farm, Walton, near Street. He later called at Charlton Orchards near Taunton where he tasted newly picked local apples, and completed his visit at the state of the art Gundenheim Dairy, near Wellington.