Yes, I do, because we have made significant progress and I hope that we will have the opportunity to get on to the substance of that progress and describe it.
The reason why I have that confidence is that I have got in aboot it. I have not sat in my office waiting for things to happen. I have taken a series of steps and actions since I became cabinet secretary. Pace the convener, I have not really had the opportunity to introduce the officials I have here with me through an opening statement. We have here Elinor Mitchell, Annabel Turpie and Eddie Turnbull, who have joined the team and strengthened it. We have many other new people at Saughton house who have brought new energy and vigour.
I have communicated directly with the heads of the rural payments and inspections division offices. I have met the staff. On several occasions—this is extremely important—I have met Steve Thorn, the chief executive of CGI. I did so most recently a couple of weeks ago and I asked him point-blank, “Are you putting your best people on this?” He said, “Yes, we are. This is a priority for us.”
I am working in collaboration with our contractors, CGI, on a difficult task and we are making significant progress in the application of the technology to the basic application process. The SAF 17—single application form 17—is much better than the SAF 16. I hope to have the opportunity to describe the progress that we are making with the basic payments, and Annabel Turpie will be able to give details about further progress and payments that are getting out the door over the next few days and weeks.
The answer to your question is therefore yes, convener. In my position, I fully accept responsibility. The buck stops with me. That is why I have got in aboot it. I have dealt with the company and have confidence in the company’s ability. The difficulty here, if we wish to be dispassionate about it, is that this is quite simply one of the most complex tasks there has been. We are dealing with 4 million hectares and several hundred thousand fields as well as a far more complex system under the new CAP reform, and we are incorporating many of the things that the industry wanted, including the regionalisation of land. We have also added welcome additions that were not there in the past, such as provisions for new entrants. All that adds to the complexity and I hope that we can get into the nitty-gritty of the significant progress that we have been making, although challenges remain.
The final thing that I would say, convener—by way of getting my opening statement in by other means, I suppose—is that, under my leadership, we have not hesitated to devise payments schemes that have been called loan schemes, although there is no interest to be paid unless there is default in the repayment of any surplus, which does not really arise except in a very few cases. We paid such a scheme last year, and we are paying one this year. If we require to do that in future or if it proves to be necessary, I will not hesitate to go to the Cabinet and seek payment. The priority for me is that farmers and crofters get their money. That is the task I am fulfilling.