Chamber and committees

The Good Agriculural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC) measures of cross-compliance have been developed with stakeholders to reflect the wide variability of Scottish conditions and I will in due course announce a cost effective multi-purpose inspection regime for cross-compliance measures.

In cases where cross-compliance is not complied with, payments made to the farmer can either be reduced or completely removed. The regime also allows, however, in some circumstances, for farmers not to be penalised for very minor or technical infringements. As with current agricultural schemes there will be a fair and transparent appeals procedure for farmers who incur penalties in respect of the Single Farm Payment.

The case for a reduction in the number of emergency fire control rooms has been considered in a report by consultants Mott MacDonald, commissioned by the Scottish Executive. The report recommended a reduction in the number of control rooms, from the present eight to one, two or three, on the basis that those options would provide a more cost-effective service than retaining eight control rooms. In reaching this conclusion, the report considered a number of factors including the impact on service delivery, organisational development, staffing and other costs. In addition, the report highlighted the advantage of larger control rooms in dealing with major incidents and responding to the threat from terrorism.

We issued the report for consultation on 8 July and asked for responses by the end of August. We are currently considering the responses we have received and we will be making an announcement in due course. At this stage, no final decision has been taken on the recommendations in the report.

The Executive has a range of policies in place to help people in poverty and works in conjunction with the UK Government. More specifically, the central heating programme, the Warm Deal and the Winter Fuel Payment will help people in poverty mitigate against increased fuel costs.

The planned reduction in the number of direct support schemes and the introduction of the Single Farm Payment Scheme will reduce the number of people employed on the administration of Pillar 1 Common Agricultural Policy Schemes, although this will be off-set by any new schemes required in the administration of modulated funds. In the short-term, staffing has increased because of the need to develop the new scheme while still running the old schemes. 

All the land used for the purposes of the Livestock Improvement Scheme over the last 10 years has been land owned originally by the Secretary of State for Scotland and now owned by Scottish ministers. Details of sales in the last 10 years, of land used for Livestock Improvement Scheme purposes are as follows:

	Description of Land	Area in Hectares	Sale Price (£)	Date of Sale	Purchaser
1.	Beechwood Land adjacent to cottage No. 4	0.011	1,000	15/12/2003	Andrew Waugh
2.	Beechwood Land at Cradlehall Farm Road	0.361	7,500	31/10/2003	Tulloch Homes Limited
3.	Knocknagael No. 6 Knocknagael land and building	0.110	22,500	3/4/1996	Hector Jack Macdonald and Catherine Medley Macdonald
4.	Wester Aberchalder Farm	841.028	380,000	11/11/1994	Hon. Alexander Andrew MacDonell Fraser
5.	Wester Aberchalder Land adjoining north bungalow	0.024	100	23/10/1995	Mary Campbell and Catherine Campbell
6.	Wester Aberchalder Land adjoining south bungalow	0.082	100	3/11/1995	Archibald Neil Kirkland and Fiona Mary Latham
7.	Wester Aberchalder Land adjoining kennel cottage	0.236	2,200	11/1/1996	Iain Murdo MacLeod Stoddart

 

Plans of all the properties showing the areas which have been sold and of each of the plots which have been sold will be lodged in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33746).

European regulatory penalties incurred by farmers and crofters will depend on the nature and extent of the producer’s non-compliance with scheme requirements. Infringements will come in two categories: firstly, application-related errors, for example late claims and over-declaration of land areas. This category exists at present and the European legislation sets out percentage reductions in accordance with the scale of the error. Farmers and crofters will be familiar with these requirements and the penalties for infringement. The second category concerns failures to comply with Cross-Compliance conditions. In some circumstances, farmers and crofters will not be penalised for minor or technicalinfringements of the rules. Otherwise, penalties are scaled according to the nature and severity of the non-compliance: a simple failure arising from negligence will result in a 3% penalty whereas a deliberate breach of the rules could mean a 20% reduction or in some cases exclusion from the scheme for the following year.

The number of staff involved in any inspection assessment will reflect the scale of the farming enterprise under review. I recognise the concerns of farmers and crofters about the numbers of potential inspectors – both from SEERAD and specialist bodies - and have tasked my officials to bring in a co-ordinated approach that avoids duplication of effort and unnecessary visits.

Staff in the Environment and Rural Affairs Department are receiving training on the introduction of the Single Farm Payment Scheme and this will continue, as new tasks are required.

Funds for agricultural subsidies are drawn as necessary from EC funds and there is no right to unspent money. However, Council regulation (EC) 1782-2003 does provide that member states will be able to retain sums equivalent to 25% of any penalties imposed because of non-compliance by farmers with the Single Farm Payment Scheme cross-compliance rules. This is in line with the practice on current Common Agricultural Policy subsidy schemes and is intended to offset some of the cost of administering the schemes. Currently the sums are credited to the Scottish Executive administration budget and plans for the Scottish Executive Administration Budget currently include an assumed £80,000 a year for such retained income.

The European Regulation, upon which the Single Farm Payment Scheme is based, comes into effect from 1 January 2005 and I intend to extend the existing formal appeals mechanism, the Agricultural Subsidies (Appeals) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 to cater for the new scheme. This will provide an accessible and affordable way for producers to challenge SEERAD’s decisions to refuse, reduce, or recover support.