Hansard

No, I will not.

All that the regulations do is to extend until 2030 the legal basis for continued SRDP support at programme level. The regulations are simple and straightforward by design, and they do not change policy, outcomes or payments—that was never the intent and nor is it what we publicly committed to. The regulations will allow us to provide support for less-favoured areas, crofting, agri-environment measures, forestry and community-led local development, to name but a few. If the regulations are not approved, there will be no support and no phased transition—only a cliff edge.

In the previous session, the Parliament extended the legal basis for continued SRDP support until the end of 2024. It is now for the Parliament to vote to do the same thing until 2030. To be clear, that does not mean that there will be no change or that every scheme will run as is in every year until 2030. It means that, instead of constant cliff edges and annual visits to Parliament to extend schemes, we will come back when there is a change to make or when we bring forward replacement support.

The regulations are a pragmatic approach that provides continued assurance and a backstop. They enable us to focus our collective time and resource on the co-development of new support within the four-tier framework using the powers in the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024. The regulations deliver on our public commitments and what we consulted on, and they are essential, as they underpin the route map and enable the phased transition to take place. I hope that today we can provide some much-needed assurance to our farmers, crofters and land managers and show that, unlike elsewhere, the Scottish Parliament continues to value and support them.