Chamber and committees

I want to get some clarity about Jim Fairlie’s points and those that you were responding to about the reallocation of funding in the budget. What is the total? An article published at the weekend said that there was a lot of confusion in the farming community about whether £45 million will be cut from the rural budget. It seems that the figure will be £60 million over two years. Can you confirm how much that is, and whether it is a saving or a reallocation? Will that money come back to the budget, or is it just the Bew funding that you were talking about, which is ring fenced—so to speak—that will come back to the budget? Can you give us some clarity around the money that the Cabinet Secretary for Finance talked about?

What is the additional amount, which is an extra £45 million?

An update to the committee would be really appreciated.

Yes, please, because it sounds as though you are going to be using that economic modelling as the basis for making decisions on future payments. Is that correct?

I have a brief follow-up comment. We have talked a lot about modelling. It is important that we are able to look at the outcomes that we are trying to achieve, then work out how we get to that point. The feedback is that the outcomes for that part of the bill are not clear—it is at the end of the bill, so perhaps we always think of the subject as one of the last ones to consider, but it should be integral, because ensuring that the right standards are met across the agriculture sector will reduce our carbon footprint and improve our performance on climate change targets. It is important that there are efficiencies in production, as you will be well aware.

So, we will see that detail before the transition. That is what you are saying. Can you give us a rough date?

I go back to the consultation. One of the responses said that the issue is largely about climate change. It refers to

“the climate change plan related to agriculture, forestry and rural land use”.

Unless I am missing this, however, there does not seem to be any reference to food production or supply chains. Supply chains were mentioned earlier, specifically in relation to narrowing supply chains, creating a more local approach, changing the culture of food consumption and so on, and perhaps relating that to the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022, which has been mentioned. Is there scope to expand those strategic priorities, and how does that happen?

It is not from an article. Shona Robison announced a cut of £45 million to the rural budget. Is that on top of the £28 million?

I wonder whether you will indulge me, convener, as I want to go back to the code of practice on sustainable and regenerative farming. When will that be published? Did you give a date?

It is just that I spoke recently to a group of people from the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association who were very keen that the code of practice should be published.

Does the delay in the timings for the climate change plan and the biodiversity strategy have any bearing on the possible delay in the publication of the code of practice?