Extract from Scottish Parliament debate on Programme for Government 2018-19 - Sep 6

Donald Cameron (Highlands and Islands) (Con):...By comparison, members will be aware that today the UK Government has announced the creation of a new pilot scheme that will provide 2,500 seasonal migrant worker visas to non-European Economic Area workers to support soft fruit and vegetable farmers. NFU Scotland described that this morning as

“a step in the right direction”.

What a stark contrast with the failure of the Scottish Government to effect real and material change for Scotland’s agricultural community.

In last year’s programme for government, the SNP promised to

“put the CAP payment system on a secure footing and complete full digitisation of the application process for payments”. 

This year’s programme for government is silent on that. Instead, we know from a recent freedom of information request that there are still 340 businesses waiting for their payment for 2017, and even one business in the north-east still waiting for its 2016 payment. Although I am not entirely surprised that the Government chose to omit a similar commitment in this year’s programme for government, it yet again highlights the SNP Government’s inability to get to grips with this long-running saga...

To read the whole debate, CLICK HERE