– Scottish Parliament written question – answered at on 28 February 2011.
Question S3W-39350
To ask the Scottish Executive which of the recommendations in The Road Ahead for Scotland: Final Report of the Inquiry into Future Support for Agriculture in Scotland it (a) supports and (b) does not support and what the reason is for its position in each case.
Question S3W-39351
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish a formal response to The Road Ahead for Scotland: Final Report of the Inquiry into Future Support for Agriculture in Scotland .
The report itself calls for more work to be carried out to develop some of the recommendations further. We are taking this work forward with stakeholders before taking up a detailed position on the report. We have, however, identified some key principles which the Scottish Government supports including;
Improving sustainability of Scottish agriculture;
Fairer allocation of both Pillar I and Pillar II budgets;
Continuation of Pillar I Direct Payments;
Reform of Direct Payments (historical basis no longer justified);
Distribution of future payments (pure area-based system not suitable, need to consider alternatives such as Top-Up Fund);
Measures to tackle land abandonment (limited coupled payments);
Stronger links between payments and farming activity;
Addressing global challenges (climate change, biodiversity and food security);
Measures to support new entrants and other excluded sectors; and
Simplifying the Common Agricultural Policy to reduce the administrative burden.
I have undertaken to write to the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee explaining those principles in more detail.
Yes0 people think so
No0 people think not
Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.