Payment system will be available

There need be no doubt that a legal mechanism will be in place which will allow support payments to Scottish farmers to be made beyond 2019, a Scottish Government source claimed yesterday Indicating that the Scottish Government’s first choice would be to negotiate amendments which would allow them to sign up to the UK Agriculture Bill without jeopardising their freedom to draw up a scheme suited to Scotland, it was clear this was not the only option.

And, it was stressed that while negotiations were still under way on the amendments there was “categorically no risk” to future farm support measures should another course be chosen.

Countering claims that time was tight for drawing up an equivalent bill in the Scottish Parliament to put a mechanism in place which would allow payments to be made, the source said that such an approach would require only a “straightforward” piece of legislation which could completed over a short time-scale.

“Rather than getting tied up with the mechanistic detail of the process the industry should instead be focusing on gaining commitments on future farm funding from the UK Treasury,” said the SG source.

The administration also argued that it had produced the most detailed plan for future agricultural support policy in the shape of its “Stability and Simplicity” discussion document which outlined a process of change over an extended transition period.

Stating that the responses to the consultation which ended in September were currently undergoing independent analysis, the source confirmed that a debate was to be held on the issue to the Scottish Parliament before the end of the year.