Ewing confident there will be no fines as one in ten awaits cash

It was confirmed yesterday that, as had been predicted, by the close of play on Friday just over 90 per cent of Scotland’s farm payments had been processed by the beleaguered IT system.

Rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing said that basic, greening and young farmer payments had been made to 16,521 farmers and crofters, valued at £343 million – around 90.4 per cent of the expected total for those schemes.

Although short of the 95.24 per cent payment required by the Europe, the imposition of any fines 0 Fergus Ewing confirmed latest payment details is now likely to hinge on the response from the Commission on the Scottish Government’s request for extra time to complete the payments which was lodged two weeks ago,

“We are now awaiting a final determination from the European Commission regarding an extension to the payment deadline to 15 October, if necessary, on the grounds of the acutely challenging delivery and implementation issues we face in Scotland,” said Ewing,

“Our payments made to date, along with the national loan scheme mean that the majority of farmers and crofters have received their money.”

He added: “Over the coming weeks we will be working hard to ensure that we complete the remaining payments due to farmers and crofters as quickly as possible.”