The IT system for Directorate for Agriculture and the Rural Economy is currently budgeted to cost £45m over 2017/2018 year, according to a Farmers Journal Scotland freedom of information request (FOI). The figure includes the operating and cost of the CAP payments system. The FOI revealed that the revenue cost of the Department’s IT systems amounts to £14.8m over the year.

“These running costs of £45m are huge for a system that has failed to deliver over the past year,” said Peter Chapman MSP, Conservative party spokesperson on the rural economy and connectivity. “This week, at the rural economy and connectivity committee on the draft budget, the cabinet secretary confirmed that the depreciation on the CAP IT system is costing £10m to the increased payments and inspections administration costs budget.”

When asked directly by the Farmers Journal Scotland about the annual running cost of the CAP payment system, the Scottish Government was unable to give a figure.

They said they were not capable of distinguishing the individual cost of the CAP computer programme from the overall budget. “The operating cost of processing CAP payments is not separately identified from the overall running and developing IT services,” said a Scottish Government spokesperson.

It is unknown exactly for how many years the current expensive CAP system will need to be in place. Despite exiting the EU in 2019, the UK will probably be required to run along European rules until the end of a transition period. This is likely to be at least until the end of 2020. As a result, the current computer system may need to be maintained for a number of years to come.

The Scottish Government states that the long-term running cost of the agriculture department’s IT system will not be known until a “steady annual business cycle position is achieved, and development has reached a stage where legacy systems could be decommissioned.”

The overall budget for the Rural Economy and Connectivity portfolio in the Scottish Government’s budget saw a 2% cut to £2,806.4m. More information on the Scottish Government budget can be found on page 6.