Scottish Government has been accused of not doing enough to support young farmers and new entrants.
In a letter to Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing, north-east Tory MSP Peter Chapman has warned the government’s Young Farmers Start-up Grant Scheme is “not functioning”.
Mr Chapman, who is shadow rural economy secretary for the Scottish Conservatives, said young farmers were not able to access the scheme because not enough money has been committed to it. Last year £5.23million was awarded to 90 applicants from the scheme’s £6million budget.
Mr Chapman said: “It is not good enough for the SNP to leave future generations of farmers with no support and Fergus Ewing needs to urgently get some more money into this scheme.”
Mr Ewing last night said the Young Farmers and New Entrants Start-up Grant Scheme had been a huge success, with 147 businesses benefiting from more than £7million of funding since 2015. attracting and supporting young and new entrants into farming was a government priority.
He said: “Round three applications are still being assessed and we hope to complete this process in the very near future.
“In 2017, we are aiming to introduce a single round for start-up grants to enable better fund and process management. We are also considering what more can be done to ensure the continued success of these schemes.”
