The final £50million instalment of delayed farm support payments will be paid into Scottish farmers’ bank accounts by the end of June.
Or at least that’s the hope of new rural economy secretary, Fergus Ewing, who announced yesterday that he was determined to make full payments to “as many Scottish farmers as possible” by June 30.
The latest update on the Scottish Government’s website shows that 87% of eligible claims were paid by June 8, up from 85% the previous week.
Mr Ewing said that verifying and checking what was being claimed before settling the payments had been a “gargantuan administrative challenge involving an almost infinite combination of possibilities and literally millions and millions of complex calculations”.
He added: “All eligible farmers should have already received a substantial payment from the Scottish Government worth 80% of their estimated entitlement, unless they chose to opt out of the nationally funded loan scheme.
“Thanks to the relentless efforts of staff in area offices and our Edinburgh HQ, this process is nearing the very final stages of completion which will enable us to begin paying second instalments in the near future, injecting at least another £50 million into Scotland’s rural economy.”
The news was welcomed by NFU Scotland president, Allan Bowie who said it would be a relief to many producers.
“It means we are getting closer to the end, but NFUS will keep the pressure on the Scottish Government and their officials until all of Scotland’s farmers and crofters are paid what they are due,” he said.
“While most can now expect their final payment, we know that some more complex cases have still not received a penny. Any of our members in this situation should contact us so that we can take their case direct to the Scottish Government.”
Mr Bowie added that once the job was done and final payments had been made, there needed to be a wholesale review of the programme’s failings.
“Lessons need to be learned, changes need to be made and people need to be held to account,” he said.
“Scottish Government must make a new contract with farmers and crofters on future support payment delivery.”
Mr Ewing made his announcement on the day Scotland’s chief statistician published the annual economic report on the industry which confirmed earlier provisional figures showing income across the country has dropped by more than £100 million in the last 12 months.
Scottish Conservative shadow rural affairs spokesman, Peter Chapman said the figures showed Scotland’s farming community was “right up against it”, and had been for several years.
He added: “The SNP could hardly have picked a worse time to mess up the processing of CAP payments. But in doing so, it has made a bad situation even more damaging.
“If anything good is to come from these statistics, it should be to underline the importance of sorting the CAP mess out so farmers don’t suffer again next year.”
