A week after the damning report from Audit Scotland, Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity Fergus Ewing has admitted the controversial payment system is too complex.
In an exclusive interview with the Farmers Journal Scotland, the Cabinet Secretary admits there are issues with the Scottish National Party (SNP) Government-designed scheme and that the next support system for the rural economy must be simpler and easier to deliver.
“In retrospect is the system too complex? In my opinion, yes it is.
“And therefore, should there be an opportunity to redesign funding schemes, then I think we want a Mondeo not a Rolls Royce. It is better to have practicality, things that farmers actually need and value. This goes across production and the environment. Can we come up with a support system which is simpler to understand and deliver?”
The cabinet secretary
In a wide-ranging interview, the Member of Scottish Parliament for Inverness and Nairn covered topics such as direct payments, the likelihood of Brexit following the General Election and how Scottish farmers will be funded into the future.
On how a future payment system will look, he went to great lengths to stress that the rural sector must maintain its currently level of £500m a year. He believes that all the money we get in the future must go into the rural economy.
“It is essential to support, through funding, the rural community. Agriculture is the mainstay of the rural economy. We get £500m a year from the EU, and it is imperative that we maintain the financial support. Scotland is not New Zealand. You cannot leave sheep to fend for themselves. This is not an option.
Funding
“EU funding will be at least matched, says the Tories. That means we will get 16% of the UK budget, making an overall budget over £500m. Could that be better spent? Of course. Some of the restrictions come from the EU,” Ewing argued.
The dynamic surrounding the UK’s exit from the European Union has shifted since the General Election of two weeks ago. Forced into a likely deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland, the conversation has moved away from either a hard or soft Brexit to focus on a workable Brexit.
On Brexit, Ewing said the UK leaving the EU is less certain than thought, citing the poor election result for Theresa May’s Conservative party.
“In the event of Brexit, it is less and less certain than it was a week ago. Britain didn’t seem too enamoured with the hard Brexit, which the previous Government sought. So they returned a UK Government with a lower number of members (MPs), therefore not giving the mandate, which was the whole purpose of the exercise.”
While the SNP continues to favour EU membership through an independent Scotland, Ewing said an exit from the EU could benefit Scotland’s farmers also.
Three-crop rule
Specifically, he cited changing the three-crop rule and softer penalties for compliance breaches as ways Scotland’s farmers could do well outside of Europe.
“The three-crop rule is plainly not applicable to Scotland. I used to be a lawyer practicing in the criminal courts. I never had a client whose crime was so heinous that he was fined the amount of money that some farmers get for clerical errors or errors of an inadvertent nature. That is a grossly unfair part of the EU system,” he said.
On convergence, he admitted that if the £190m was to come to Scotland it would be paid substantially to hill farmers.
“The EU produced funding of £190m for convergence, which was to equalise the payments on a per-hectare basis. Scotland receives the lowest per-hectare [income] in Europe. The whole point of the fund was to equalise that. It was intended for those who received the lowest. Substantially it would go to support hill farming in Scotland.”
Payment debacle
On the payment debacle – which has seen farmers get late part payment and the Government facing millions of pounds of fines if all payments are not out of the door by the end of the month – he again reaffirmed that this was his No 1 priority. He went on to list the top three things he is acting on:
1. New leadership team of civil servants, who have the skills for the complex organisational task.2. Renegotiated parts of the contract, gaining substantial reductions with CGI, who are the principle contractors. He has met with DGI vice president Steve Thorn on five occasions. 3. In the operation if loans schemes, Ewing has adopted a pragmatic approach, committing to ensure that money goes into farmers’ and crofters’ bank accounts, so that problems of the IT do not penalise farmers themselves.When pressed if a simpler system means flatter, more even payments across farm sectors, he refused to comment, saying this was an area for legitimate debate. He did, however, commit to deliver practical support for farmers, potentially lime grants.
“I want practical assistance, like in the crofters’ scheme, which pays for fencing.”
A week after the damning report from Audit Scotland, Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity Fergus Ewing has admitted the controversial payment system is too complex.
In an exclusive interview with the Farmers Journal Scotland, the Cabinet Secretary admits there are issues with the Scottish National Party (SNP) Government-designed scheme and that the next support system for the rural economy must be simpler and easier to deliver.
“In retrospect is the system too complex? In my opinion, yes it is.
“And therefore, should there be an opportunity to redesign funding schemes, then I think we want a Mondeo not a Rolls Royce. It is better to have practicality, things that farmers actually need and value. This goes across production and the environment. Can we come up with a support system which is simpler to understand and deliver?”
The cabinet secretary
In a wide-ranging interview, the Member of Scottish Parliament for Inverness and Nairn covered topics such as direct payments, the likelihood of Brexit following the General Election and how Scottish farmers will be funded into the future.
On how a future payment system will look, he went to great lengths to stress that the rural sector must maintain its currently level of £500m a year. He believes that all the money we get in the future must go into the rural economy.
“It is essential to support, through funding, the rural community. Agriculture is the mainstay of the rural economy. We get £500m a year from the EU, and it is imperative that we maintain the financial support. Scotland is not New Zealand. You cannot leave sheep to fend for themselves. This is not an option.
Funding
“EU funding will be at least matched, says the Tories. That means we will get 16% of the UK budget, making an overall budget over £500m. Could that be better spent? Of course. Some of the restrictions come from the EU,” Ewing argued.
The dynamic surrounding the UK’s exit from the European Union has shifted since the General Election of two weeks ago. Forced into a likely deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland, the conversation has moved away from either a hard or soft Brexit to focus on a workable Brexit.
On Brexit, Ewing said the UK leaving the EU is less certain than thought, citing the poor election result for Theresa May’s Conservative party.
“In the event of Brexit, it is less and less certain than it was a week ago. Britain didn’t seem too enamoured with the hard Brexit, which the previous Government sought. So they returned a UK Government with a lower number of members (MPs), therefore not giving the mandate, which was the whole purpose of the exercise.”
While the SNP continues to favour EU membership through an independent Scotland, Ewing said an exit from the EU could benefit Scotland’s farmers also.
Three-crop rule
Specifically, he cited changing the three-crop rule and softer penalties for compliance breaches as ways Scotland’s farmers could do well outside of Europe.
“The three-crop rule is plainly not applicable to Scotland. I used to be a lawyer practicing in the criminal courts. I never had a client whose crime was so heinous that he was fined the amount of money that some farmers get for clerical errors or errors of an inadvertent nature. That is a grossly unfair part of the EU system,” he said.
On convergence, he admitted that if the £190m was to come to Scotland it would be paid substantially to hill farmers.
“The EU produced funding of £190m for convergence, which was to equalise the payments on a per-hectare basis. Scotland receives the lowest per-hectare [income] in Europe. The whole point of the fund was to equalise that. It was intended for those who received the lowest. Substantially it would go to support hill farming in Scotland.”
Payment debacle
On the payment debacle – which has seen farmers get late part payment and the Government facing millions of pounds of fines if all payments are not out of the door by the end of the month – he again reaffirmed that this was his No 1 priority. He went on to list the top three things he is acting on:
1. New leadership team of civil servants, who have the skills for the complex organisational task.2. Renegotiated parts of the contract, gaining substantial reductions with CGI, who are the principle contractors. He has met with DGI vice president Steve Thorn on five occasions. 3. In the operation if loans schemes, Ewing has adopted a pragmatic approach, committing to ensure that money goes into farmers’ and crofters’ bank accounts, so that problems of the IT do not penalise farmers themselves.When pressed if a simpler system means flatter, more even payments across farm sectors, he refused to comment, saying this was an area for legitimate debate. He did, however, commit to deliver practical support for farmers, potentially lime grants.
“I want practical assistance, like in the crofters’ scheme, which pays for fencing.”
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