Warning of funding delay after on-farm inspections

Farmers and crofters who have had on-farm inspections as part of their subsidy application may have to wait longer to get their payments than those who were not inspected.

Reports have emerged that producers who were inspected months ago are being told by Government officials that the Rural Payments and Services system does not yet have the capacity to process the findings from an inspection.

It is understood that these producers have been told that even once the Government’s computer system has the facility to process inspectors’ notes, the task is likely to be a lengthy process.

It is likely the inspectors will have to go through each field inspected and authorise, or re-authorise, every field for payment, and justify the reason for any discrepancies in areas found.

It is understood these producers have been advised not to expect any payments until the end of next month at the earliest.

The Scottish Government failed to confirm whether or not the computer system was lacking the facility to deal with inspections.

However, it did confirm that farmers and crofters who had been inspected were likely to have to wait longer for their payments.

A Government spokeswoman said: “Due to the extreme complexity of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), claims are taking longer to process and EU regulations prevent us from issuing payments until all of the necessary checks have been completed.

“The Scottish Government is working as hard as possible to make as many first instalment payments by the end of March as we can, and the balance of payments soon after.

“It is particularly challenging for the 1,300 farms which were, under EU rules, subject to land inspections.

“Inspected cases typically have among the longest processing times even in a normal year, and we will do everything possible to deliver payments to these farmers as soon as we can.”