Meeting of the Parliament 02 February 2016
Dave Thompson made a number of pertinent points. Many of the tasks that have been undertaken in relation to the information technology system are one-off tasks, because this is the first year after a radical reform of the common agricultural policy, in relation to not only pillar 1, which is direct payments, but pillar 2, which is the rural development programme. That has required 20 separate schemes to be launched in 2015 alone; in relation to direct payments we have six schemes, many of which have regional variations, because of the industry requirement to ensure that there is regional targeting, which the Scottish Government supported.
At the same time, we decided that area payments should be made at three different levels, depending on the kind of land, because we wanted to ensure that we targeted resources at the most active farmers and crofters in Scotland. Again, the approach was supported by the industry and this Parliament.
Many of the tasks in that regard are one-off tasks. We will continue to improve the IT system and we will certainly learn lessons, as Dave Thompson suggested.
Members will be aware that in 2005 there was a move to area payments south of the border, and major difficulties were encountered at the time—indeed, only a couple of per cent of farmers received payments by February 2005. Our rate in Scotland is much higher than that, albeit that we face similar challenges.