Ewing - Payment progress has been made

In May this year, I outlined three key CAP objectives in my role as Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity. To complete the 2015 payments as soon as possible; deliver compliance and minimise financial penalties; and set the 2016 payments on an even keel. I want to update you on the substantial progress being made.
Staff have worked flat out over the summer to progress 2015 payments and their efforts have paid off. Substantial progress has been made. A total £360 million in direct farm funding – including Basic, Greening, Young Farmer and coupled beef and sheep support – and a further £54 million under the LFASS has been paid to farm businesses across Scotland. 
In principle, everyone eligible and not yet paid should have been offered the option of a loan equivalent to 80% of their entitlement. 
This has been a monumental effort and I would like thank staff in Edinburgh and all our area offices for their hard work. I also want to thank you – our farmers and crofters – for your patience and willingness to work with me to help get things right.
Looking forward I remain confident that we will be able to put 2016 payments on an even keel. I advised Parliament this week that I expect and anticipate that payments will be made and substantially completed by the end of the payment period, namely by the end of June. But there is a lot which still needs to be put in place to achieve this.
I have received assurances from the government’s IT contractor that functionality of the system will be delivered early next year. This will enable the final processing of applications. But like me, I am sure you can see that our plans – good as they are – are not risk free.
And frankly, knowing that the livelihoods of you, your families, your staff and the communities you live and work in, are at stake here, these are not risks I was prepared to take.
In these uncertain times, we all want certainty and security. That is why, I announced on Tuesday details of a nationally-funded loan scheme for 2016 which will inject up to £300 million into Scotland’s rural economy this winter. It means that if you are eligible for a 2016 CAP payment, you will not have to wait to receive payment of your entitlement. 
The new scheme will enable you and upwards of 17,000 farmers and crofters all over Scotland to receive a loan of 80% up to a maximum of €150,000. Potential applicants will receive a letter inviting them to apply by the end of this month and everyone who is eligible and applies by October 12 will receive a payment in November – hopefully by the middle of the month. This will give our farm businesses the security and certainty they require to plan for the year ahead while driving forward the rural economy, putting money into the supply chain, enabling businesses to make short term plans in paying wages, bills and buying seed and feed, while also allowing some to commit to longer term investments.
I am also working hard to deliver certainty from other quarters. While the guarantees offered by the UK Government have helped, they simply do not go far enough. EU funds provide significant benefits to the rural economy, creating and sustaining jobs often in areas where circumstances are challenging. 
So far, the UK has failed to respond to my call for them to extend their guarantee to cover in excess of £360 million of CAP Pillar 2 and EMFF funding that is so vital to our rural communities. And while it may involve a much smaller amount, the failure to play fair with the EU emergency funding for our dairy sector seems indicative of a wider malaise at the heart of the UK Government.
Despite this uncertainty our purpose remains the same – building sustainable growth in Scotland’s rural economy. But our rural communities need short term security as well as a long term future.
That is why, since day one in this job, I have made resolving the CAP payment issues my top priority. We are still some way off. 
We continue to work flat out to fix it, to complete the 2015 payments and put the 2016 payments on a better footing. And in the meantime, we have put in place a scheme to provide security and stimulus over the winter.
I am sorry that while we have made significant progress, we are not there yet. But I remain absolutely committed and determined to fix this, and I am getting on with doing just that.