Government must ‘seize the moment’ with Agriculture Bill to deliver for Scottish farming
Press ReleaseScottish Land & Estates, the rural business organisation, said today the Scottish Government must ‘seize the moment’ to deliver for Scottish farming following the passing of a new Agriculture & Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill in the Scottish Parliament.
Building on successful changes in earlier stages of the Bill process, SLE welcomed the adoption of several key amendments to the Bill which completed its final stage in the Scottish Parliament yesterday and will now go forward for Royal Assent.
However, SLE warned that the ‘real work starts now’ as it appealed to government to follow through on its commitment to work with stakeholders to ensure that the new legislation can be built on to maximise benefits to farming and rural Scotland.
Eleanor Kay, SLE Senior Policy Adviser on Agriculture & Climate Change, said: “This Bill presented a crucial opportunity to create legislation that is fit for Scotland. We welcome the fact the Scottish Government and opposition parties have listened to key concerns and have embraced amendments to the Bill that we and others in the sector campaigned on vigorously.”
SLE welcomed amendments to the Bill that resulted in:
More detail on the content of the Rural Support Plan
Detail on Rural Support Plan engagement with farmers and stakeholders
Requirement for Government to produce a report on each Rural Support Plan
Additional reporting requirements for food security.
Clearer opportunities for natural flood management and resilience support
Greater monitoring and evaluation of support schemes
Inclusion of reintroduced native species in provisions to assist farmers who have sustained loss or damage in consequence of their reintroduction
Eleanor Kay added: “There is clearly lots of work still to be done for agriculture to transition to the new agriculture support however farmers need to take action now to be in the best position to take advantage of the new schemes. The passing of this bill provides a clear signal to the sector that sustainable and regenerative agriculture will be supported. As detail on new schemes is being decided, clearer communication will be needed from government on what to expect, and when.
“Scottish Government must work with stakeholders to overcome any challenges holding back the development of the future policy and support framework in Scotland, ensuring that we use diverse expertise to develop a coherent and sustainable future policy. We remain concerned that communication to the sector on future support is not sufficient and more must be done by the government to ensure true co-design of policy.
“We firmly believe that extensive consultation will be required for the secondary legislation associated with the Bill and are reassured that Scottish Government has acknowledged this in the passage of the Bill. This will provide greater reassurance for the sector and deliver a clearer message to the sector so it can make strategic business decisions before the new support framework is delivered.”