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FOREWORD
A NEW ERA FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT
In preparing a new Scottish Development Plan and Programme we are establishing a most important tool for delivery over the next 7 years. It's a rare opportunity and there are big decisions to take as we shape a new approach to meet our need for sustainable rural development. There will be new incentives for land managers and others to earn a return from investments designed to secure public benefits for Scotland.
We are already leading the way in Britain and Europe with our Land Management Contracts. The animal health improvement elements of the Tier 2 menu scheme, the support for accreditation memberships, and payments to encourage access are all part of a distinctive Scottish approach.
In devising the remaining parts of the Land Management Contracts, we must be equally innovative and forward looking. In particular, we must aim to create a rural development policy that capitalises on the assets of rural Scotland - its resourceful people and its outstanding landscapes and natural heritage. It must be an approach that is clearly part of the delivery of national outcomes, such as reduced pollution, flood management, action to address global warming, and biodiversity. But it must also be one that respects regional and local priorities and the need to join initiatives to achieve sustainable development.
The rural dimension should be implicit in all the policy of the Scottish Executive. All those engaged in designing and delivering services should be reflecting the special needs that arise with distance from urban places. Beyond that there is a need for investment in rural development in the shape of:
- payments to sustain the environment and other rural infrastructure (which provide public value for people and for businesses who can capitalise on a good environment); and,
- one-off investments in rural development projects (overcoming market failure and enabling businesses to move away from long term dependence on government funds).
Our proposed investment approach therefore comprises several elements.
- Assistance to farmers up to 2013 as they adjust from the previous commodity grant schemes and plan for a future when less money is likely to be available from the state (the single farm payment in Land Management Contracts Tier 1).
- Payments to farmers and crofters in recognition of the structural disadvantage of operating in remote areas designed to sustain traditional agricultural landscapes and local communities (the Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme).
- Payments for modest economic, social and environmental measures at the choice of the individual farmer or crofter (the menu scheme under Tier 2 of the Land Management Contracts).
- Larger investments in targeted activities contributing to national objectives under one of three headings: improving the competitiveness of the agricultural and forestry sector; improving the environment and the countryside; and improving the quality of life in rural areas and diversification of the rural economy (the competitive scheme under Tier 3 of Land Management Contracts).
- Investments in social, economic or environmental schemes worked up through local community development (the LEADER approach).
- Specific grant schemes, where justified, delivering outputs than cannot be achieved by use of the Tier 3 approach.
The innovative potential of the Tier 3 approach will give us more to be proud of in Scotland, and I will welcome your views on this aspect in particular. Not only will we be able to capitalise on bringing in the community dimension of LEADER, but also we can link support for land managers with national policy priorities. That way they can deliver not only the food and other countryside products for consumers, but they can also deliver public goods and earn a fair return from doing so.
In short, our proposals would see:
- Land managers and communities encouraged to develop ideas and bring them forward if they can be shown to have the potential to deliver the goals in the national plan - water framework directive implementation, climate change strategy, flood protection, economic development and improved services in rural areas, increased domestic food processing and biodiversity;
- Clarity from the Scottish Executive about the outcomes to be delivered and the outputs that can contribute to that delivery, as well as about the relative policy priorities;
- Compliance with the minimum spend targets set by the European Union for each of the three Axes (see above) and under LEADER;
- An administrative approach in which our comprehensive scheme does not overlap with, but clearly complements assistance available under other schemes - with clarity of approach at both the national and regional level; applicants will need to study national and local guidance and shape their proposals accordingly; and,
- A national focus that sees funds deployed on national priorities, assessed by local panels with wide representation including community representatives, and administered by SEERAD regional offices as part of an "On the Ground" approach bringing all the relevant agencies together.
This is an ambitious agenda and full of potential - a place-based approach, available to capitalise on local strengths. How far we can go with it will depend on the budget we set for the overall programme from EU and domestic sources. But it is already clear that the budget will not be enough to achieve all the outputs that stakeholders are looking for. We can overcome that in some respects by transferring funds by additional voluntary modulation from the single farm payment and making them available for rural development.. We can also create a more effective programme, more easily accessible to applicants, by wrapping some of the current separate schemes into the Land Management Contracts Tier 3 whilst maintaining the full range of purposes that those grants currently meet. That would lead to simpler, more responsive decisions in which projects would be judged for their wider contribution in a wider context; and in which simpler paperwork allows staff from all parts of the SEERAD family to come together in an efficient grant management process - the so-called On the Ground approach to rural development.
I believe that this is indeed the start of a new era for rural development policy. Even with the limited funds likely to be available, we should be able to engage many thousands of land managers, farmers, crofters and others to work with us as we tackle some of the big challenges that face rural Scotland and its people. I look forward to your contributions to shaping an exciting agenda.
ROSS FINNIE MSP
Minister for Environment and Rural Development
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