This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Support for less favoured areas
02/08/2002
The final version of the Less Favoured Area (LFA) Support Scheme for 2003 onwards has been announced and will now be submitted to the European Commission for approval.
The final Scheme takes account of views expressed during the recent consultation exercise and introduces a number of improvements on the 2001 and 2002 LFA schemes. The result is:
- 54 per cent of businesses gain overall compared with the old HLCA headage scheme, with the highest proportion of gainers in the Western Isles, Caithness and Sutherland.
- a big drop in the number of businesses that have either gained or lost significantly in the move from headage to area payments;
- Large sparsely stocked farms will no longer gain disproportionately from LFASS, while there will be a big improvement for the more economically active businesses in fragile areas.
The Minister for Environment and Rural Development Ross Finnie said:
"The final scheme takes account of comments made during the consultation. There was general support for the new scheme, including the new higher payment rate for farm businesses in fragile parts of Scotland. Some communities argued that they too should receive a higher rate. I have looked closely at this and have decided to extend the boundary of the fragile area.
"As a result there will now be three payment areas. There will be a separate payment category of £44.50 per hectare, which will apply to the islands of Scotland, recognising the particular transport problems facing businesses there.
"A higher payment rate of £42.50 per hectare will be extended to peripheral LFA communities in the Western Highlands, the North East and South West of Scotland. I have also decided to take account of the historic disadvantage recognised by the Objective 1 status held by much of the Highlands and Islands. This part of Scotland will therefore attract the higher payment rate until the Objective 1 status lapses in 2006."
"The remainder of Scotland's LFAs will receive the £36.50 originally proposed.
"The introduction of Grazing Categories for classifying land was broadly welcomed. Some sought an increase in the number of Categories. I looked at this but it would not have resulted in an overall increase in the number of businesses benefiting. In fact, there would have been a slight rise in the number losing out.
"I should also emphasise that these Categories provide an indication of land class and grazing capacity, rather than replicate a headage scheme. Maintaining a headage scheme is not acceptable under EU rules. A comparison between the pattern of Grazing Categories across Scotland and a separate land classification map from the Macaulay Land Research Institute shows that the four categories provide a good match.
"I believe we now have a Scheme that marks a big improvement on what has gone before. Change is never easy but I hope that this new Scheme will offer LFA farmers a fairer and more settled basis on which to plan the future of their businesses."
The LFA scheme will be submitted to the European Commission as part of the 2002 modifications to the Scottish Rural Development Plan. The modifications will go before the EU STAR Committee for approval in the autumn.
Result of the LFASS Consultation Exercise contains details of the LFA scheme, a map showing the three payment tiers and maps comparing the pattern of Grazing Categories with recent MLURI work.
This release was first posted on Wednesday 7 August 2002.