SCOTLAND is seeking clarity over the UK government's farm spending commitments over the Brexit transition period.

Defra minister Michael Gove has previously committed to provide the same cash total in funds for 'farm support' until the end of the parliament, but that has left a grey area, highlighted again this week by Scottish rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing.

While the UK budget commitment clearly covers Pillar One's direct payments to farm businesses based on productive acres, Mr Gove's wording becomes problematic when applied to the Pillar Two budget, and the variety of rural development schemes which that pays for. In Scotland, Pillar Two is an important mechanism for channelling funds into rural areas that do not benefit as much from Pillar One – but despite the money from some of those schemes being of clear importance to farm businesses, they might not fall within Westminster's definition of farm support, particularly LEADER, AECS and forestry support.

Writing to Mr Gove, Mr Ewing asked for written guarantees over those Pillar Two payments: “Despite repeated requests the UK Government has refused to say whether all of Pillar Two will be classified as farm support or whether some, for example LEADER will not. This is an important distinction as it may mean that there will be aspects of Pillar Two that would not be covered by the commitment."

Referring to his meeting with Mr Gove on January 14, Mr Ewing recalled that Mr Gove had verbally stated that the UK Government’s commitment covered both Pillar One and Two of the current CAP budget.

“At our meeting you clearly stated that all of Pillar Two is covered by the commitment, which presumably must mean that UK Government has now decided that all of Pillar Two will be classified as farm support – and that is what I am asking you to confirm.

“This is a crucial matter for a broad range of Scottish stakeholders including farmers, foresters, local communities and the food and drink sector," stressed Mr Ewing. "As March 29 approaches, should the UK exit the EU, then the security of replacing EU funding is becoming paramount.

“As I have explained to you previously, many of the sectors that this funding supports require long term planning – from farmers planning their crop rotations and forecasting the number of cattle or lambs they need to produce for a market in a year’s time; to the forestry industry ensuring sufficient saplings are available for planting in coming years; to rural communities investing in businesses to make them more viable and help prevent rural depopulation.

“If the UK Government is unable to provide this confirmation, I would be grateful for an explanation as to why this is not possible, and when the UK Government does in fact expect to be able to give clarity on this point. I need to provide as much certainty to Scottish stakeholders as possible, and where this is not possible it is important to be able to explain the reasoning why.”

Mr Ewing was due meet with Mr Gove today (Monday 18 Feb) in Edinburgh for a discussion on post Brexit rural support.