Nfus Meet With Lord Bew

NFU Scotland President Andrew McCornick (right) and Director of Policy Jonnie Hall (left) met with Lord Bew, chair of the independent panel on intra-UK funding allocations today, where they welcomed the outcomes of his report.

Attending a Question and Answer session in London with Lord Bew, President Andrew McCornick said: “Correcting the injustice around the convergence funding allocations decided in 2013 has been a six-year long campaign for the Union, and it was abundantly clear that injustice had to be addressed by Lord Bew in his review.

“The Bew Review also fully acknowledged and appreciated the unprecedented uncertain and turbulent times that all UK agricultural interests were now facing, and so the recommendations focus on providing stability as much as addressing fairness.

“A one-off dividend of £160 million ring-fenced to Scottish farming was announced in the Chancellor’s Spending Review at the start of this month.  In a further announcement, the Bew Review recommended that Scotland’s allocation of funds be improved and that will bring a further £51.4 million into Scottish agriculture over the next two years.

“The injection of funding into Scottish agriculture comes at a time of great uncertainty.  We want our industry to come out the other side of the current turmoil and this uplift will help us build greater resilience into our farming and food sectors. It was acknowledged by Lord Bew that the terms of the review meant that the recommendations necessarily fell short of mapping out funding and its allocation beyond 2022.  Nevertheless, he urged farming interests to continue to make their unquestionable case for ongoing support.

“We thanked Lord Bew and his team, which included former NFUS President Jim Walker, in person today for undertaking this review and for their fair conclusion on how agricultural funding should be allocated.”