SCF is disappointed in the Budget announced yesterday that, in real terms, will leave crofters worse off. This comes on top of changes to Agricultural Policy meaning that crofters will have to jump through increasingly onerous hoops to receive basic payments. Although often amounting to only a few hundred pounds a year for an individual crofter, these payments do nevertheless cover basic input costs and help crofting to deliver on the small scale.
Despite the Scottish Government receiving an 8% uplift in the block grant from Westminster, the budget announcement on Wednesday sees around the same amount of money as last year go to agriculture. This effectively means a small cut in real terms after rising costs are taken into account, and although £20m of previously deferred capital funds have also been returned, it is unclear what these funds will be used for or when the remaining £26m of the deferred money will be transferred back. Whilst it is reassuring that LFASS, CAGS and CHGS were confirmed as continuing, they are also at the same levels of funding as last year.
More positively, there is an increase in funding for the Islands Programme which will hopefully see improved infrastructure projects. Overall, there is still no news of any multi-year funding which leaves uncertainty over the future.
During 2024, SCF travelled throughout the Crofting Counties listening to crofters. In the National Development Plan for Crofting, and the recent Crofting Bill consultation, Scottish Government claims to value the “unique role crofting plays in rural and island communities” (Scottish Government, 2021) Time and again, however, crofters expressed their concern that increasing regulation and the feared drop in basic payments will lead many to reduce or stop production altogether, with consequences for both the land (one crofter in Shetland said; “if there are no more crofters, who will look after the land”?) and for local communities in terms of social and economic impacts.
Jonathan Hedges, SCF Chair, believes that the government has not recognised the effect of recent policy changes on crofters, nor does it appreciate what crofters deliver for agricultural production in Scotland. “At SCF we know that crofters punch above their weight in terms of food production, nature-friendly agricultural practices, supporting rural and island economies, and the sustainability of communities”. He goes on to say, “this is very disappointing – within months of the publication of The Value of Crofting report, commissioned by the Crofting Commission, which demonstrated what crofting contributes to Scotland’s economy, it’s clear that the government still does not fully understand the unique contribution that crofting makes”.
Mr Hedges concludes: “SCF continues to highlight to policymakers the policy and practical support that crofting needs to keep delivering for Scotland. Yet, while on the one hand Scottish Government says that they recognize the importance of crofting, this budget does not appear to support this”.
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