Question reference: S5W-35164
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 11 February 2021 Registered interest
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Current status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 24 February 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to utilise the remaining spend of the Agricultural Transformation Programme, committed to in the 2020-21 draft Budget.
Answer
The majority of the capital funding allocation has now been assigned to the Sustainable Agriculture Capital Grant Scheme and for additional Scottish Forestry projects. Regrettably the impact of COVID-19 has made it difficult to progress a loans scheme for capital projects in 2020-21. This type of funding is challenging to use, given the need to avoid displacing private sector backed lending, and any such lending must be done in a way that is consistent with subsidy controls and UK international trading commitments.