has today set out his plans to
ensure Scottish farmers are no longer left behind by unfair funding
allocations between the UK’s constituent countries. In order to
address the discrepancies that have appeared in the farming subsidy
system over the last few years, Boris Johnsontoday will announce
that, after we leave the EU, the UK’s agricultural payments scheme
will be reformed in the following ways:
-
Scottish farmers will receive the same per hectare farming
payment as the UK average - an additional £25m per year.
-
The Scottish government will be consulted on ways to rectify
the historical funding gap for farmers who have lost out on
funding since 2013.
said:
‘For years, British farmers have been given a poor deal by
the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy - but it’s clear that
Scottish farmers have been particularly poorly treated. It’s time
that we stopped this. Once we leave the EU on 31 October, we will
have a historic opportunity to introduce new schemes to support
Scottish farming - and we will make sure that Scotland gets a
better deal’
ENDS
Notes to Editors
1. THE UK RECEIVED EXTRA CAP FUNDING BECAUSE OF SCOTLAND,
BUT SCOTLAND DID NOT GET THE MONEY IT NEEDS
-
In 2013, the EU launched a round of CAP reform designed to
decrease the gap between countries making the highest and
lowest payments per hectare. Countries that made average
payments per hectare of less than 90% of the EU average would
receive additional funds, called ‘convergence’ funding, to
make up the shortfall. (European Commission, June
2013, link). In 2013,
the UK was eligible for these extra funds. This was because,
despite England, Wales and Northern Ireland receiving
above-the-boundary payments per hectare, Scotland did not
(European Commission, December 2013, link).
-
The UK received an additional €230 million over the six years
of the EU’s Multi-annual Financial Framework to improve the
status of Scottish farms. However, this money was spread
across the whole UK and, of this, Scotland only received
£30m, or just over 16% of the convergence funds. This was
well below Scotland’s fair share of the additional funding,
and was criticised by the Scottish Government at the time
(Scottish Government, November 2013, link) and NFU
Scotland have also called for this situation to change (NFUS,
2015, link)
-
This is an average of just £5m of extra funds per year, out
of a potential £31.7m per year.
2. BORIS JOHNSON WILL STOP SCOTTISH FARMERS BEING LEFT
OUT AFTER WE LEAVE THE EU
-
After the UK leaves the EU on October 31, the UK will take
back management of its own agricultural payments scheme. The
Agriculture Bill is currently going through Parliament and we
will consider making amendments to it in order to deliver
this change. We will also consult with the Scottish
Government to see if there are any other reasonable options
for delivering this objective. We will also consult with
who has been
investigating this issue.
-
is committed to ending
the regional inequality in the UK’s agricultural payments
scheme, and this will be a priority of the new scheme’s
design. Rebalancing the agricultural payments scheme
(increasing payments from £5m per year to £31.7m) will be
worth £25m per year to Scottish farmers.
-
In addition, because it is not right that Scottish farmers
have missed out on payments that they should have received to
bring their agricultural payments in line with the rest of
the UK, will - if he is elected
Prime Minister - consult with interested parties, including
the Scottish Government, to address this historic injustice.
