In January 2009, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment Richard Lochhead announced a review of the SRDP. The review was carried out by Peter Cook, an independent consultant and former head of rural business at the Scottish Agricultural College, and took place before the full-scale review demanded of the Programme in 2010.
Mr Lochhead announced the results of the review in the Scottish Parliament on 10 June 2009. These pages contain Peter Cook's final report, and a summary of the recommendations made and the Scottish Government's response.
Recommendations and Scottish Government response
Please note that the timescales for implementing recommendations are as follows: Immediate means in the next 6 months; Medium Term means in the next 12 months; Long Term is a recommendation to apply the advice within the term of the Programme or at the very least to deal with the issue for the next Programme.
Package of new measures
The Cabinet Secretary also unveiled a package of new measures to support agriculture and the rural economy. These measure include:
- £15 million over two years to support hill farmers through changes to the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS)
- A review of the Single Farm Payment (SFP) scheme to ensure it is delivering support where it is needed
- Increased support for slurry schemes and a review of how we could further support greener farming
- Additional support for new entrants
- Further operational improvements to the SRDP, including improved support to simplify the online application process
For further information please see the news release, and the Cabinet Secretary's statement to Parliament.
An analysis of responses to the recent LFASS consultation is available on the Scottish Government website's research pages.