Scotland’s Government has vowed to close regulatory loopholes allowing would-be slipper farmers “money from nothing” through the new CAP.
Making an unequivocal pledge to the farming industry during a stakeholder meeting on Tuesday, rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead said new land area payments issued by Holyrood under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) will still be subject to some of the “toughest” minimum activity rules in the whole of Europe.
Expressing his concern over certain “circumstances” whereby some people have sought to skirt around the subsidy legislation, Mr Lochhead said: “Let me be clear under the new CAP, the days of getting money for nothing are over.”
According to the government, any landowner that is taking land back in-hand with the intention of claiming new CAP payments should “think carefully” about their responsibilities and obligations under the new support system and also the “potential consequences” of doing so with penalties for deliberately ‘over-claiming’ or ‘circumventing’ regulations particularly “severe”.
Mr Lochhead continued: “Scotland’s minimum activity rules are among the toughest in the EU and the requirements for making a valid claim are clearly set out in our guidance.
“For example, environmental audits must be carried out to the specified high standard using approved methodology there is no easy or cheap way round this, or any quick fix.”
Furthermore, he said, landowners who were not claiming under the old regime need to be aware that unless they can prove they were actively farming in 2013, they will not be eligible for automatic entitlements under the new CAP.
“Everyone claiming basic payments will need to provide verifiable and robust evidence of appropriate farming activity,” said Mr Lochhead.
Joint stakeholders NFU Scotland, the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association, Scottish Beef Association and National Sheep Association Scotland welcomed the clear-cut move to eliminate weaknesses in BPS activity requirements and to nip any new breed of slipper farmer in the bud.
These industry players have long demanded that new CAP direct support payments should only go to those actively farming, to underpin productive businesses, and not simply to reward those that own land.
“This strong and robust statement sends out an unambiguous message that the Scottish Government will do all within its powers to ensure support payment claims are valid and rules around eligibility have not been manipulated or abused,” they said.
“We welcome the government’s announcement that it will strengthen the inspection regime and officials will be looking for clear proof of activity.”
However, the voice of land-based businesses in rural Scotland Scottish Land & Estates said Holyrood itself is to blame for leaving the door ajar to non-active farmers, as a result of decisions it made on the transfer of entitlements without land.
David Johnstone, chairman of Scottish Land & Estates, said: “SL&E does not support or condone slipper farming and clearly anyone that applies for support must meet all the requirements of the scheme.
“Rather than portray this issue as a new slipper farming problem we should be looking for solutions.
“To this end, SL&Es has sought to draw attention to the way the Scottish Government’s own decisions on the siphon on transfers of entitlements without land could be causing part of the problem.”
Mr Johnstone said the landowners had met with Mr Lochhead’s officials to attempt to bring an end to the issue. However, he conceded: “It seems that any change in this area is unlikely.”