The promised review into the £160m in CAP funding owed to Scottish hill farmers is to be delayed, it has been announced.

“There are questions about whether this clear commitment will be honoured by Minister Gove,” according to Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing, who was speaking at the launch of the Post Brexit Implications for Agriculture in Highlands and Islands report.

“A promise was made and has to be delivered. Scottish farmers are owed £160m, which the UK Government has completely ignored,” he continued. “I have been clear throughout that the money was earned in Scotland, and quite frankly should be returned to Scotland.

“Having already secured the review and agreed its independent chair, it is disappointing to learn that the review is being kicked into the long grass,” Ewing said.

Under the last CAP reform, the EU set out to redistribute direct payments more equally, based on the average payment per hectare.

The UK qualified for £190m, due to Scotland’s low payment rate, which is only 45% of the EU average. However, so far only £30m of this has gone to Scottish farmers.

This money would generally be targeted at farmers with lands designated as region two and region three, where the payments are approximately £36/ha and £11/ha, respectively.

Independent review

“Less than six months ago, Michael Gove committed to a proper, independent review of how funding is allocated, and it will come as a disappointment to Scotland’s farmers and crofters that little or no progress has been made. This review is critical in establishing a fair baseline for future agricultural funding levels in Scotland beyond Brexit,” according to NFU Scotland president Andrew McCornick.

“The long-standing view of NFU Scotland is that there was no objective justification for the UK Government decision to share the convergence uplift across the whole of the UK based on historic allocations, and this approach was always out of line with the European Commission’s rationale for the uplift.

Pressure

After years of political pressure, UK Secretary of State Michael Gove and Scottish Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy Fergus Ewing agreed to carry out a review of the convergence issue in November 2017, and this latest delay will come as a blow.

Speaking at the time of the announcement in November, Ewing outlined that they had committed to “agreeing the review’s remit, timescales, process and personnel by the end of the year”.