Holyrood agrees the principles of a new Agriculture & Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill
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Holyrood’s Rural Affairs & Islands Committee has today said that it agrees with the general principles of the Agriculture & Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill.
The legislation represents the Scottish Government’s ‘vision for agriculture’ to transform farming and food production in Scotland and to make it a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.
The Bill would give the Scottish Ministers the powers to provide support for agriculture and rural communities to replace the common agriculture policy following the UK’s exit from the EU.
However, the Committee says that, although the ‘framework’ nature of the Bill offers a flexible basis for future support schemes over the long-term, it also stresses the need for the proposed five-year Rural Support Plan (RSP) to provide sufficient granular detail about future support schemes, and for it, and subsequent plans, to be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny.
Responding to widespread concern amongst stakeholders around the lack of direction offered to date, the report says the RSP must provide detail on the means of delivery, outcomes, and budget priorities for future support schemes – including how they will be monitored and evaluated.
Furthermore, to allow stakeholders a level of certainty to plan ahead, the Committee calls on the Scottish Government to ensure there is a multi-year, ring-fenced budget for support schemes and calls on the UK Government to provide clarity regarding future funding to make this possible.
The report also says Parliament should be able to hold the Scottish Government to account over significant decisions on policy and funding priorities, including on the issue of payments distribution across the sector, through its scrutiny of the RSP and secondary legislation.
Launching the report, committee convener Finlay Carson MSP, said; “The flexibility offered by a ‘framework’ bill is desirable so that Ministers can adapt to opportunities and challenges overtime, but it is vital that the powers set out in the Bill are developed in partnership with stakeholders and are subject to robust parliamentary scrutiny.
“We share the concerns we heard from stakeholders about the lack of direction, the time being taken to introduce future support schemes and the impact this is having on farmers, crofters, land managers and rural community organisations. But this legislation must be relevant for at least the next generation, so it’s important that the Scottish Government gets it right."
The Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill was introduced by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, Mairi Gougeon MSP, on September 28.
The Bill would implement the Scottish Government’s consultation on its proposals for future agriculture policy contained in its Vision for Agriculture.
For the last 12 months, the Committee has been scrutinising agriculture policy through a programme of evidence sessions, a call for views (72 responses), roundtable discussions and visits to arable, dairy and hill farms across Scotland.
In February, the Committee held a consultative event with approximately 40 farmers, crofters, other land managers and representatives from rural community and development organisations to engage directly with agricultural practitioners and hear their views about future agriculture policy and the Bill.
He continued: “We believe that the Rural Support Plan, and clarity over future funding, are crucial for providing certainty to farmers and crofters about how they will be supported going forward. The Plan will also provide a basis for the Parliament and stakeholders to hold the Scottish Government to account.
“We are confident that this approach will ensure that Scotland’s future agriculture policy is a success.
"Thank you to everyone who took time to engage with our scrutiny of this Bill.”
