Time’s up, EU tells SNP over farms fiasco

By Rachel Watson Deputy Scottish Political Editor

OFFICIALS in Brussels have rejected the SNP’s last-minute attempt to extend the deadline for farm payments, a move that could see taxpayers facing a fine of up to £60million.

Scottish ministers had asked the European Commission for more time to hand out Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments after failing to do so within the deadline.

For the second year in a row, the Scottish Government has failed to deliver the assistance to farmers, paid by the European Union but administered by individual states.

The payments should have been made by June 30, but ministers confirmed last month they would not meet the 95.4 per cent target. They asked the EC to extend the deadline to October, but this was rejected.

Scottish taxpayers could now be fined up to £60million as well as £5million for failing to meet the target last year.

Only hours before the deadline last month, ministers disclosed that they had made only 83.3 per cent of payments.

Yesterday, Environment Secretary Fergus Ewing said: ‘The Scottish Government wrote to the European Commission on June 21 to request an extension to the end-June deadline for CAP payments. The Commission has responded to indicate it does not propose to offer an extension.

‘We will not know the precise amount of any late payment penalties that will be applied for many months to come, because they are calculated at UK level in line with EC accounting cycles which, in this case, extend well into 2018.

‘Recent good performance in making payments in Scotland during June and across the UK as a whole has significantly reduced the risk of late payments.’

Last month, it was disclosed that Scotland could avoid a penalty as the UK as a whole had performed favourably, with all other regions handing out payments.

Opposition politicians lined up to criticise the Scottish Government for failing to make the payments.

Scottish Tory rural affairs spokesman Edward Mountain said: ‘The SNP’s continued failure on CAP has been disastrous for our farmers, with around 1,000 having not had the payments they are due.

‘The fact the Scottish Government’s incompetence could lead to more money being wasted on fines makes it even more galling. If we are forced to fork out extra, it will only reinforce the SNP’s dreadful reputation among those in our agriculture industry.’

Scottish Labour rural affairs spokesman Rhoda Grant said: ‘The SNP’s handling of the CAP payments fiasco has descended into a costly farce yet again – and it is taxpayers who could be left to foot the bill.’

Scottish Lib Dem rural affairs spokesman Mike Rumbles said: ‘The fault here lies entirely with the Scottish Government and its colossal mismanagement of these payments. The Cabinet Secretary has been under fire for months. This news doesn’t help his credibility, or that of the SNP Government, one iota.’

The Scottish Government has also admitted it may fail to meet the deadline for a third year, with continuing problems blamed on its £178million IT system.

‘Taxpayers to foot the bill’