The Scottish Government was warned farmers could miss out on hundreds of millions of pounds of EU funding – but kept quiet to win votes for independence, it has been claimed.
Documents obtained by the Press and Journal reveal that Richard Lochhead was told in early 2014 about major IT problems that could cause crippling delays to CAP payments.
Last night, the Rural Affairs Secretary denied he had misled farmers and insisted he “didn’t know” the system would fail to work properly “until it came to pressing the button”.
But ministerial officials claimed he had “made it very clear (to farmers) … there was a huge delivery challenge looming” throughout 2014.
Major issues with the IT system – which has cost taxpayers £178million to date – did not come to light until the system went live at the beginning of 2015.
Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Tavish Scott said: “Richard Lochhead spent most of 2014 promising farmers and crofters the earth if they backed independence.
“He said that a transition to independence would not disrupt CAP payments when he knew all along that payments would be disrupted anyway.
“It seems farmers were left in the dark over the extent of the IT catastrophe because the Cabinet Secretary did not want to undermine the paper-thin case for independence.
“This is absolutely shameful. If people had known that payments were set to be delayed they could have planned accordingly.
“In the event, farmers and crofters have been left counting the cost of the SNP’s failure to deliver CAP payments on time.”
When asked in a freedom of information request by the Press and Journal when Mr Lochhead was first informed of difficulties with the IT system for delivering CAP payments, the Scottish Government said they had held “regular discussions with (him) since early 2014”.
The revelation follows claims by a whistle-blower who worked on the project between September 20, 2014, and March 20, 2015.
He said he and other staff were threatened with dismissal or sacked for raising concerns about problems with the site – a claim the Scottish Government denied.
Last night, Mr Lochhead said he “was always open” with farmers about the complexity of the payments system and claimed he was only told of the “risks” of late payments in 2014.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman added: “The fact is that in 2014 Scottish Government ministers made it very clear, in meetings with farmers’ leaders, that there was a huge delivery challenge looming when it came to CAP payments.”