Audit Scotland has announced it is to probe the Scottish Government’s failed £178 million IT system which has left farmers waiting for vital CAP payments. Rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead told farmers their CAP payments would be in their bank accounts by December, but as it stands only around a third have received them.
The National Farmers Union Scotland criticised the SNP this week, saying: “Time and again, the Scottish Government’s actions have not matched up to what has been promised.”
It added that farmers had “lost trust” in the system, and that Mr Lochhead’s “assertions cannot be taken as a given”.
It was also reported this week that the Scottish Government had been warned two years ago that the system for processing European support payments would not be ready.
In announcing it was to investigate the issue, Audit Scotland said further delays “could have a serious impact on the Scottish Government’s ability to process payments by the EC deadline of June 2016”.
Local Conservative candidate added to the debate by saying “The SNP has lost the trust of rural Scotland and in particular those in North Ayrshire and Arran that I have met with over the past few weeks and months. This is yet another government IT fiasco. It’s no wonder farmers no longer have any confidence in Richard Lochhead.”
Mr Greene added “The Scottish Government is completely out of touch with rural Scotland, and has been warned for almost two years about this botched IT system. It has left farmers out of pocket, and banks having to put hundreds of millions aside to cover the damage. The SNP wants to be judged on its competence, yet this is another failure on an issue it has sole control over.”