Scottish Government faces £60m fines over flawed farm funding system

The Scottish Government will face a further £60 million in fines for errors over its handling of the farm payments system, an Audit Scotland report has set out.

The report, which was published yesterday, was carried by the independent body to look at the progress made by the government regarding the CAP Futures programme, since around this time last year.

Concerns raised in the report include:

• £52 million that was lost in the last round of payments due to incorrectly interpreting EU guidelines;
• difficulties, delays and duplications of farm payments over the period;
• poor accessibility and communication with farm businesses;
• the failure to resolve complications with the £178 million IT system, which crashed in 2015;
• and, additional costs accrued through mismanagement to develop and deliver the programme.

The government’s payments system has attracted widespread criticism since it was implemented three years ago, with Scotland’s farmers facing a series of delays. The most recent of these has seen 1,700 farmers awaiting payment under the 2015 Less Favoured Area Scheme, almost two years after they applied, according to Scotland’s Farmer’s Union, NFU Scotland.

While both Orkney MSP Liam McArthur and the union have called the report “damning”, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy Fergus Ewing has said he is disappointed that the report has failed to recognize progress made.

Mr Ewing, who took over his role in May last year, said that there has been significant changes to the system and measures undertaken to ease pressures on farmers, for example the implementation of the government’s loan scheme.

He also set out that, since last November, 13,279 farmers in Scotland have received 80 per cent of their basic and greening payments, and over 9,900 have received 90 per cent of their payment and the final 10 per cent being paid this week.

Mr McArthur was scathing following the publication of the report, saying the report has shown the depth of the Scottish Government’s “catastrophic” handling of the issue.

He said the report has made it clear that the problem is not simply with a broken IT system or a single ministerial bungle and the Scottish Government has repeatedly added fuel to the fire.

He said: “The Cabinet Secretary, Fergus Ewing undoubtedly inherited an unholy mess from his predecessor, Richard Lochhead.

“Initially, his commitment to make it a priority to sort things was well-received by the farming community, including here in Orkney. Twelve months on, however, and this report suggests there has been little improvement on Mr Ewing’s watch.

He added: “It also shows the risks of Ministers taking their eye off the ball. Farmers and crofters in Orkney will now expect Mr Ewing and his colleagues to get on with the day job.”