Information the Scottish Government wanted kept secret on the size of subsidy penalties imposed on more than 400 farming businesses can be revealed today.
A Freedom of Information Act appeal win by the Press and Journal has secured the release of data that shows the four or five-figure fines being suffered by farmers for often minor errors and which have provoked a huge industry backlash since the government took a tougher stance in November.
The disclosure immediately prompted renewed calls for a more proportionate system of penalties rather than the arbitrary 3-5% deduction the government says it has been obliged to impose after concerns were voiced by European officials that Scotland’s previous regime of warning letters and then smaller fines was too lenient.
The majority of penalties in the 419 cases so far released from the 453-strong list are for breaches of statutory management regulation seven on the identification and registration of cattle.
Several high-profile farmers are among those hit, including Iain Mathers, the former chairman of the National Beef Association in Scotland and who has had a £14,688.91 penalty – or 5% of the single farm payment received by his Kintore-based business A.R. Mathers and Son.
It stems from him forgetting to notify a movement link for cattle overwintered at another farm he has used for the last two decades.
Mr Mathers said: “What annoys me is that this was not for financial gain. It was an innocent error. I can understand the need for severe penalties if there is a deliberate attempt to defraud the EU in any way, but these cattle were never sold and they still belong to me. “Every year we’ve notified the link but this year we were late.”
Charolais cattle pedigree breeder John Wight, of Midlock, Crawfordjohn, Biggar, initially suffered a 5% penalty but appealed and had it reduced to 3% – or £12,309.34.
Mr Wight said inspectors had found three errors. One involved a British Cattle Movement Service mistake after it failed to register the movement back on to his farm of a beast taken to a local show. The others related to a calf with a wrong identity and a cow with two tags in the same ear.
He said: “We fought and had the fine taken back. These were errors, there was nothing deliberate about them. One was the fault of BCMS. It is farcical the amount of money we have lost because of this.”
Other big fines for cattle registration breaches include £32,668.95 on G. Barbour and Co, of Dumfries, £23,668.28 on Borders-based Sunwick Farm, £22,794.40 on Genoch Mains Farms, £18,219.99 on Killearn-based Aucheneck Estate, £14,612.31 on John I. Forbes and Partner of Kinneff, £13,042.26 on the Duke of Buccleuch’s BQ Farms and £11,165.76 on Longside’s Auchtydore Farms.
The biggest financial penalty at £90,677.68 – 20% of the single farm payment – was imposed on Hawk Farming Ltd, of Dairsie Mains, Cupar, for failing to register animals.
NFU Scotland president Jim McLaren has led calls for fixed penalties that more accurately and proportionately reflect the scale of the error made. He said even the public would be astonished at the penalties being imposed.
He added: “The irony is that it is currently easier for a farmer to sit and do nothing and still receive their single farm payment than try to fulfil the aims of the Cap by farming responsibly, maintaining the environment and producing affordable and safe food. Instead, the vast majority of active Scottish farmers go about their daily business knowing that a minor breach discovered at inspection – such as the failure to return a cattle passport or tag an animal properly – could result in a significant percentage of their support being deducted as a penalty with a huge impact on their business.”