Scottish farm minister Richard Lochhead launched an attack on Westminster yesterday over Scotland’s share of vital Common Agricultural Policy (Cap) funds.
Allocation of the overall UK Cap budget between Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland was confirmed yesterday with all four countries set for a 1.6% cut in direct payments in line with overall budget cuts.
Under the deal, Scotland’s existing share of Pillar 1 direct support payments will be retained, and Pillar 2 support will increase by 7.8% between 2014 and 2020.
This equates to a Pillar 1 allocation of around £3.42billion and a Pillar 2 allocation of just under £400million for Scotland.
Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael yesterday said the deal was a victory for Scotland and the country’s farmers were set to receive the highest per farmer payment in the UK.
“This announcement is the latest confirmation that Scottish farmers get a better deal on Cap as part of the UK,” he said.
However, Mr Lochhead accused the UK Government of “pocketing” nearly £190million from Scottish farmers and crofters.
The extra funds, known as convergence uplift, had been secured to top up Scotland’s per hectare direct support payments which are the lowest in Europe, said Mr Lochhead.
“Contrary to the UK Government’s claims, passing the convergence uplift to Scotland in full cannot be linked to deductions for farming colleagues in England, Wales or Northern Ireland,” he said.
“This is money that rightfully belongs to Scotland and divvying it up across the UK means that farmers in other regions are benefiting at Scotland’s expense.”
In addition to confirming budgets for the new Cap regime, the UK Government also offered the Scottish Government the option to increase coupled payment support to 10% of total budget, rather than the current 8% allowance.
Mr Carmichael said: “We could do that by sharing the unused flexibility from other parts of the UK to support the specific needs of Scottish farmers, provided that the Scottish Government, as the sole beneficiary, agree to take on any financial risk.”
The UK Government offered this option on the condition that Scotland remained within the United Kingdom, he added.
UK ministers also yesterday pledged to carry out a mid-term review of the allocation of UK Cap funds in 2017 once the Scottish Government had made the transition from an historic-based to area-based payments system. Findings of the review will be used during the allocation of funds from 2020.
NFU Scotland president Nigel Miller said that although the union was disappointed to not see an immediate uplift in budget, the option to increase coupled support offered an opportunity for the industry.
“We firmly believe the ability to couple an element of our support payment to the vulnerable beef or hill sheep sectors could be a useful tool in helping us deal with a low budget and the extremes of farming intensity that exist across Scotland,” he said.
An increase to Pillar 2 funding was also a relief, he added.
The UK now needed to ensure it followed Europe’s convergence timetable to bring all member state payments closer to the EU average of £164/hectare – Scottish farmers currently receive about £83/ha – by 2019, said Mr Miller.
“The UK must follow Europe’s clear steer on budget convergence and put in place a process that will eventually see arable producers in Berwickshire receive the same level of support as those in Norfolk, or hill farmers in the Highlands get equivalent support to those farming in the Lake District,” he added.