LYON: LYON WELCOMES EXTRA SUPPORT FROM UK FOR SCOTTISH FARMERS Scottish Liberal Democrat MEP George Lyon today said that extra coupled support for Scottish farmers shows the benefits that UK membership has for Scotland’s agricultural sector. Speaking after Ministers confirmed the final distribution of UK CAP payments, Mr Lyon said the extra coupling entitlement would be a real boost to disadvantaged areas and help stabilise beef numbers. It was revealed this morning that Scottish Ministers will, should they choose, have the flexibility to increase Scotlands coupling entitlement to 10%. This would be achieved by sharing unused flexibility from other parts of the United Kingdom. Ministers also confirmed that there will be a review of CAP distribution after the current historic payments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are phased out. Commenting, Mr Lyon said: “We know the overall budget is coming down and it is right that changes are spread equally around the UK. That is what the deal announced today will deliver. “But we should not forget that the SNP voted for big cuts to EU spending that went beyond what the UK coalition had proposed. They then spent months complaining when Ministers duly delivered reductions in spending in Brussels. “We know the SNP will say anything to anyone when it comes to their independence plans but I hope they will recognise that the announcement today has some real positives for Scottish farmers. “The offer of extra coupling entitlement from the rest of the UK is extremely welcome. It recognises the very real need to target payments at our most disadvantaged areas and stabilise beef cow numbers. “This is extra support that would not be available if Scotland were not part of the UK. Our farmers will get a better deal thanks to the support of other areas of the country. This is the UK delivering for the Scottish industry. Ends. Notes to Editors: The main points of today’s CAP announcement in relation to Scotland are: The existing share of direct payments (pillar 1) will be retained – all four nations will take a nominal cut of 1.6 per cent in allocations as the overall budget has been reduced: Scottish farmers will therefore retain the highest per farmer payment in the United Kingdom. For Pillar 2, Scotland will see a 7.8% increase over 2014-2020. Within the allocation for Scotland announced today, the UK Government has offered the Scottish Government limited access to the UK’s flexibility to make coupled payments – to enable the Scottish Government to better target payments towards active, productive farmers, particularly in the livestock sector, providing that the Scottish Government, as the sole beneficiary, agrees to bear any financial risk. A commitment to review the internal allocation of UK CAP funds, in 2017, to help inform the UK’s approach to domestic allocations for the next CAP period, post-2020: this will be enabled by the Scottish Government meeting its commitment to move from historic to area payments
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 08:46:01 +0000
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