Scotland’s Cap Focus Must Shift From Application To Implementation

Now that crucial deadlines for Scottish farmers and crofters have passed, NFU Scotland is urging Scottish Government to crack on with the job of ensuring support is delivered on time.
The recent deadlines are a major landmark in delivery of new CAP schemes but a significant volume of work must now be undertaken if support payments are to be made in the normal December window.
The Union used its traditional press briefing at the Highland Show, currently taking place at Ingliston, near Edinburgh to call for sufficient resources to be allocated by Scottish Government to the necessary work programme and for the industry to receive monthly updates on progress.
The deadline for completing the Single Application Form (SAF) – the only route to accessing funds available under new CAP schemes – closed on Monday evening (15 June) at midnight, with just under 21,000 received. Under rural development measures, the deadline for applications to the country’s new agri-environment climate scheme (AECS) closed on Friday (12 June) and around 1200 new and rolled-over applications have been received. The deadlines for both schemes were extended, partly in recognition of the difficulties encountered in putting a new online application system in place.
Before the main 2015 support payment run can proceed, a significant volume of work must be undertaken and completed. That includes the following:
• Process and validate SAFs
• Carry out livestock, cross-compliance, land and new greening inspections
• Complete the on-going Basic Payment Scheme regionalisation exercise
• Complete allocation of entitlement applications (including National Reserve)
• Process Young Farmers’ Scheme payment applications
• Administer the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS) and the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme (SUSSS)
For AECS applications to proceed, the required workload includes financial assessment and scoring of applications; site visits and/or telephone audit of applications; passing applications through an approval process; preparation of contracts – all to be completed by 1 January 2016.
Speaking at the Highland Show, NFU Scotland President Allan Bowie said: “We are under no illusion about the volume of work required to be undertaken by Scottish Government officials if the new CAP schemes are to hit traditional payment windows. That makes it imperative that Scottish Government allocate the necessary resources, commitment and focus to deliver just that.
“This year is almost unprecedented in the price pressure that almost every sector of Scottish farming finds itself under. Meeting the December window for support payments is a ‘must’ rather than a ‘should’ for many farm businesses.
“We believe adequate resources should already be in place to deliver the necessary work and that the industry is kept abreast of how the work programme is progressing on a monthly basis. The list of boxes that need ticked is lengthy but many of these have also been known for some time, and Scottish Government should be prepared.
“Scotland may not be alone in experiencing difficulties in meeting payment timetables because of the new CAP scheme. The need for a European contingency is a matter we will be discussing with EU Farm Commissioner Phil Hogan when we meet with him in person during the Highland Show.
“With applications largely concluded, now is also the time to start driving meaningful simplification into some of the scheme rules with much of the gold-plating around the ‘greening’ of support payments driven by the Scottish Government itself.
“Scottish Government must make full use of existing simplification options. These include ensuring wider equivalence options on the three-crop rule from 2016 are developed and implemented.”
Commenting on the recent application process, NFU Scotland’s Chief Executive Scott Walker said: “The introduction of new CAP schemes and the changeover to new online application systems has been challenging and problematic for many of the farmers and crofters looking to access available support.
“There were weeks of constant tweaks and changes to the online system to improve its functionality. It is welcome that such a high number of online applications has been achieved, justifying our request for the deadline extension.
“That said, there will be many who have submitted claims fearful that innocent mistakes made in the difficult application process could still bring the threat of inspection and potential penalties on their claim.
“We stand by our statement that if a member, through no fault of their own, faces disallowances on their support claim from problems that arose through the application process, we will stand by them through the appeals procedure.”