Call for U-turn on plan to close capital grant scheme
The Scottish Government has been asked to reconsider its plans to close its highly popular capital grants scheme for new entrants, with claims that such a move would be a backwards step.
Announcing that the scheme would close on 31 August after the next round of applications, Scottish rural economy secretary, Fergus Ewing said that it had more than met its objects – and as the first scheme in the UK to support new entrants it had supported over 600 newcomers to the tune of £8 million over the past four years.
However he said encouraging new, and younger people into the industry remained a priority – and that he would continue to explore ways of maximising the opportunities for
new generations, adding that measures had been outlined in the recent policy consultation document.
NFU Scotland President Andrew Mccornick said that encouraging a new generation to farming was vital to maintain a vibrant farming sector:
“Now is not the time to take a step back,” said
Mccornick who urged the administration to reallocate resources to the “the much-valued, but underfunded schemes”.
“We have previously made the case to Scottish Government that it would be of much greater value to the Scottish rural economy if certain funding pots within Scotland’s rural development programme were to be reallocated to the Young Farmers and New Entrants Start Up Grants Schemes and the New Entrants Capital Grant Scheme.”
Mccornick said that there had been a high proportion of unsuccessful applications – not because of poor business plans but due to budget restraints.
Mark Donald, chair of the Union’s Next Generation Group said that with the instability of Brexit, now was not the time to shy away from the task.