Meeting of the Parliament 22 January 2026 [Draft]
I did not have an answer yesterday, which is why I have asked again today.
I am disappointed that the minister will not answer that question, because it is one of the concerns of farmers and crofters, not only because their applications may have been rejected solely by a computer program in that instance, but because the same thing might happen again in the future. We want clarification of that.
I do not doubt that the FFIS was conceived with good intentions, and we know that a great many farm businesses expressed an interest, but the volume of rejections and the lack of any transparency about why applications were rejected has left a legacy of resentment, anger and frustration in our rural communities. The cabinet secretary has said that the FFIS is
“a powerful example of what can be achieved when we come together”,
but I am not sure that the sector feels at all as if we are working together with the Scottish Government. For many farmers and crofters, the scheme is yet another example of what happens when ministers and their officials at St Andrew’s house or Victoria Quay in Edinburgh rush out policies that they have not properly consulted on. It has become just another example of a policy created here in Edinburgh that fails to meet the needs of the rural and island communities that I represent.
Although I know that ministers will keep defending the scheme and their management of it, I hope that, at least behind the scenes, they will be humble enough to accept that some serious lessons must be learned from its failure to deliver what it promised for our farmers and crofters.