Meeting of the Parliament 13 November 2024
My point is that we should not be in this position because of decisions that have been taken by the UK Government. The Scottish Government will continue to do what it always has done—we will stand up for the rights of our farmers and crofters in Scotland and will protect their interests as much as we possibly can. However, the fact is that we have a baselined budget that has not increased in line with inflation during the past six years, so we are already being short changed.
The Barnett formula fails to recognise Scotland’s unique relationship with the land and the contribution that our farmers and crofters make to our nation and, especially, our rural economy. Since Brexit, many promises have been made on funding and they have been broken by successive Westminster Governments. As I have said, by contrast, the Scottish National Party Government is wholly committed to supporting Scottish agriculture and to working with our farmers and crofters to give them certainty and stability and to help them to plan for the future.
It is important to highlight what support is available, because it is vital that families who are reliant on farming can access professional support for business planning and decision making and that generational transition is enabled. That is critical for the next generation, as is increasing the number of women who are leading farming businesses as part of building a more innovative and resilient 21st century agriculture sector.
That is why the Scottish Government is supporting agribusinesses to plan for the future through succession planning. That support is provided by the Farm Advisory Service, which helps them to access up to £1,000-worth of Government funding for specialist succession planning advice. Such planning is critical for everyone, and, regardless of approaches that are taken elsewhere, we are continuing to increase fairness by modernising assignation and succession and by improving the legal framework for agricultural tenancies through the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced to the Parliament earlier this year.
My officials continue to work closely with all members of the tenant farming advisory forum and the tenant farming commissioner on the bill proposals and to explore solutions to any concerns that they have identified. Scottish tenant farmers are different from those in England, as more than half of our tenancies are secure, heritable tenancies that pass through the generations, unlike those south of the border. The tax changes could directly impact some of our tenant farmers, including those with larger farms on higher-quality land.
Although agriculture is a policy area that has long been devolved to Scotland, this tax change, which is a reserved matter, will have a clear impact on our farming industry. We believe that, as a priority, the Scottish Government must be engaged on reserved tax changes that will impact directly on devolved policy. It is vital that we, and our farmers and crofters, see the details of the proposed changes and that more engagement and consultation take place with affected Scottish rural businesses, to ensure that people are not inadvertently harmed—especially when, as a result of the changes, Scottish farmers will be paying more into Treasury coffers with no guarantee of getting any of that money back in future funding settlements.
Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con) rose—