PATRICKKRAUSE

Things can change very dramatically in a week in politics and it is the same for the agricultural politics of Scotland.

The Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) had to spell out crofters’ anger at the Scottish Government allocation of the convergence uplift announced on Thursday last week, having only a few days earlier welcomed an announcement made by Fergus Ewing indicating the Scottish Government was moving far away from the much-criticised proposals the farmers’ union had published and would be ensuring “the money goes to where it was originally intended”.

In fairness, the direction the Scottish Government has taken is not what NFU Scotland demanded, thank goodness, but it is not in “the spirit and original premise of convergence” promised by Mr Ewing, a promise which, it is felt, was misleading.

The original intention of “external convergence” was to ensure a more equal distribution of direct agricultural support between member states.

Those that had direct payments per hectare below 90% of the European Union average were to close the gap between their level and this average, with all member states arriving by financial year 2020 at a minimum level representing roughly 75% of the EU average.

The Scottish Government has clearly disregarded this intention in allocating an over-generous proportion of the money to Region 1 land – land that already receives 91% of the European average. The rationalisation given by the Scottish Government is very weak and demonstrates a lack of political will or a completely different view of what “convergence” is about.

It looks remarkably like a ruse to give more to those that already have. It does not, as Mr Ewing claimed, help “those who need help most – those who farm on our marginal land”.

These producers still receive a pitiful amount on Region 3 land.

Following the outcry by crofters to the announcement, the cabinet secretary and officials met with SCF.

The intentions of the Scottish Government are good, it seems and it is understandable a balance needs to be sought and that it is difficult to find a mechanism to effectively target funding and so on.

The practical gesture of coming up with a further £10 million for this tranche, which will be targeted to the more fragile areas, is appreciated.

So it is recognised that the government has listened and has gone some way to move further in the direction desired by SCF. But it is not far enough, yet.

Mr Ewing made it clear in his address to parliament that he sees this money as a way of making up the Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme (LFASS) shortfall caused by the Scottish Government not introducing a new system based on Areas of Natural Constraint when they had the opportunity.

SCF reiterates the assertion that the convergence money exists to compensate producers who have received very low per-hectare payments.

It is not there to fill a self-inflicted funding gap in a scheme that the European Commission is phasing out.

The LFASS gap will need to be filled, as Mr Ewing has pledged, but from elsewhere, or any convergence money going into LFASS will have to be targeted only to the more fragile areas.

■ Patrick Krause is chief executive of the Scottish Crofting Federation.

ANGER ON THE HILLS: Crofters feel unhappy at the convergence uplift allocation