1. To ask the Scottish Government when the remaining £46 million of deferred funding from the agriculture budget will be returned. (S6O-03182)

The 2024-25 budget returns £15 million in capital to provide important support to our rural communities, and the Deputy First Minister has committed to returning the remaining £46 million in full in future years. The remaining ring-fenced funds will be returned in full at the right time for specific measures that will help the transformation of Scotland’s farming and food production industry. That does not impact on the existing commitments or schemes, and the appropriate profile for returning the remaining £46 million of ring-fenced funding will be considered as part of a future budget process.

The minister’s response of “At some time” gives no comfort to all our farmers.

At the National Farmers Union Scotland conference, the First Minister could not say when the £46 million would be returned to the agriculture budget. Since then, the Scottish Government has had an extra £295 million in Barnett consequentials from Westminster. Can the minister tell us how much of that extra money will go to repay the £46 million taken from our farmers?

It never ceases to amaze me that the Tory party can come here and make comments about the £293 million, which is almost a couple of hundred million pounds less than what the figure should have been for the national health service consequentials. Some £230 million of that money will go to the NHS to counter the cuts that we have already faced.

What about the ring-fenced money?

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

Let the minister respond, please.

The ring-fenced money has already been allocated or will be allocated in the future. While £15 million has been returned to the budget, the other £46 million will be coming in future budgets, once the Scottish Government can work out its priorities after the savage cuts that have been made by the Tory United Kingdom Government.

Does the minister agree that capital investment is vital if we are to transform how we support farming and food production in Scotland, so that we help farmers and crofters invest in improved slurry storage and take action to tackle climate-related issues such as water scarcity and flooding? How does the failure of the Westminster Tory Government to provide any additional capital for Scotland in the budget affect our plans to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture?

The UK Government failed to provide any additional capital funding for Scotland or our rural communities. Indeed, our capital budget is expected to fall by nearly 9 per cent in real terms, which is a cumulative loss of more than £1.3 billion to 2027-28.

In contrast, the European Union’s common agricultural policy provided a multi-annual programme budget over a seven-year period, with flexibility to use capital or resource spend. The UK Government offers only yearly allocations that fail to provide adequate EU replacement funding or a commitment on future spend on agricultural support, which requires long-term certainty. We need clarity and certainty from the UK Government right now about future rural funding after 2025, because we have no idea right now whether it will be the Tories or Labour in government, and neither of them is committing to supporting rural Scotland.

The minister will be well aware how appalled those in the farming industry will be at the fact that he is unable to say when the money will be returned to the budget. Is the minister aware of any other budget within the Government’s budget that is being raided in that way?

Liam McArthur is well aware that every budget has been under pressure because of the savage cuts that have come from the UK Government. Cabinet secretaries across the Government are all trying to find ways of pulling in their horns to ensure that we can deliver a balanced budget, as has been done every year since the Scottish National Party came into government; indeed, the Scottish Government has balanced its budget every single year. Everybody’s budget is under strain.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

Before I call the next question, I remind members that this is a question-and-answer session so, after the question is asked, we listen to the answer.