£400m farming subsidy delay after IT glitch

HUNDREDS of Scottish farmers and crofters have yet to receive all of last year’s European subsidies because of a failed IT system.

Nearly 700 are still waiting to receive £400 million of CAP payments due to the computer problems and MSPs are now being urged to establish whether it will ever work properly.

The Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee will begin taking evidence on the Scottish Government’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Futures programme – the IT programme that has failed in its delivery of the 2015 payments.

The new IT system cost £180m and NFU Scotland has called on MSPs to use the opportunity to challenge civil servants as to if or when subsidies will efficiently.

NFU Scotland President Allan Bowie said: “Deep flaws within the CAP futures programme, and its inability to accurately deliver 2015 support payments in a timely manner, placed the whole rural economy in jeopardy last spring.

“The blunt truth is that, as we near the end of September, be distributed there are almost 700 farmers and crofters who have yet to receive some or all of their 2015 basic payments.”

But a Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We have made significant progress. We have successfully paid the vast majority of 2015 claims – injecting more than £365 million in direct farm IT is The Herald’s policy to correct errors as soon as we can and all corrections and clarifications will usually appear on this page.

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