Jamie McGrigor, Highlands & Islands Conservative MSP and Scottish Conservative Environment Spokesman, has again urged the Scottish Government to ensure that the support system of Scotland’s new rural development programme, the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) 2014-2020, contains practical and accessible options for Scottish farmers and crofters.
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament yesterday afternoon, Jamie questioned the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Richard Lochhead, following Lochhead's Parliamentary Statement on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Budget Allocation.
The Cabinet Secretary told Jamie that he wanted the new SRDP to be “a lot simpler and a lot more focused”.
Speaking afterwards, Jamie, who is Convener of the Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Crofting, said:
“It is vital that the new SRDP system is put in place as soon as possible and we do not experience the delays which disadvantaged Scottish farmers and crofters in the run-up to the setting up of the current scheme in 2007.
“It is also crucial that the support options contained within the programme are practical, simple, and user-friendly, so that farmers and crofters in my region of the Highlands & Islands can benefit from them. Many crofters believe that the very small total number of approved applications from their sector since the start of the current SRDP, compared with the potential number of smallholding applicants, demonstrates that the current scheme hasn’t served them well; too many have simply been put off applying by the complexity, labour, or anticipated time required, or believed the options were not appropriate for smaller-scale producers.
“I would encourage farmers and crofters in my region to participate in the consultations on the new SRDP, and indeed on Pillar 1 funding also, that the Scottish Government has committed to undertaking in the weeks ahead”.