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Support for Crofting a Report Prepared for the Crofting Commission Gwyn Jones

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Support for Crofting a Report Prepared for the Crofting Commission Gwyn Jones Support for Crofting A report prepared for the Crofting Commission Gwyn Jones Breacais, Strath parish (Richard Dorrell, Creative Commons Licence) Support for Crofting A report prepared for the Crofting Commission Gwyn Jones European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism Penygraig, Llanfair Clydogau, Lampeter SA48 8LJ 2018 This report was commissioned by the Crofting Commission but the opinions within do not necessarily reflect those of the Commission nor those of the Scottish Government. Contents Contents .................................................................................................................................................. 1 List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 6 1 Purpose of this report ................................................................................................................... 10 2 The Scottish Government’s objectives for crofting ...................................................................... 10 3 The state of the ‘crofting system’ ................................................................................................. 14 3.1 Estimating the degree of neglect .......................................................................................... 14 3.2 Estimating the proportion of crofters taking personal responsibility for cultivating and maintaining their croft ...................................................................................................................... 18 3.3 The use of common grazings ................................................................................................ 21 3.4 The scale of crofting .............................................................................................................. 22 4 Assessing the performance of current support ............................................................................ 23 4.1 What are the needs? ............................................................................................................. 23 4.2 Support for maintenance and cultivation ............................................................................. 25 4.2.1 Overall assessment ....................................................................................................... 25 4.2.2 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) ........................................................................................ 26 4.2.3 Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme (SUSSS).......................................................... 29 4.2.4 Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) ............................................................... 31 4.2.5 Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS) ............................................................ 33 4.2.6 Crofting Cattle Improvement Scheme (CCIS) ................................................................ 34 4.2.7 Crofting Agricultural Grants Scheme (CAGS) ................................................................ 34 4.2.8 Other complementary measures .................................................................................. 36 4.3 Complementary/competing measures aimed at public goods delivery ............................... 36 4.3.1 Agri-environment and Climate Scheme (AECS) ............................................................ 37 4.3.2 Forestry Grant Scheme (FGS) ........................................................................................ 40 4.4 Interaction with common grazings ....................................................................................... 41 4.5 Advice and the Farm Advisory Service .................................................................................. 41 4.5.1 The need for advice and its scope................................................................................. 41 4.5.2 Strengths and weaknesses of the current provision..................................................... 42 4.6 Lifelong learning.................................................................................................................... 47 5 Towards a new support framework .............................................................................................. 47 5.1 Basic requirements ............................................................................................................... 49 5.2 Legal constraints ................................................................................................................... 51 5.3 Feasibility of a separate and dedicated support structure ................................................... 53 5.4 Could current support mechanisms be adjusted? ................................................................ 54 5.4.1 Direct payments ............................................................................................................ 54 5.4.2 LFASS (or equivalent) .................................................................................................... 55 5.4.3 Agri-environment-climate ............................................................................................. 55 5.4.4 CAGS .............................................................................................................................. 56 5.4.5 Capacity building ........................................................................................................... 56 5.4.6 Budgetary implications ................................................................................................. 57 5.5 Opting for change – reflections on the wider discussion ..................................................... 57 6 References .................................................................................................................................... 59 Annex 1 – Support for Crofting - contract specification ....................................................................... 61 Annex 2 - Response to the recommendations of the Agriculture Champions’ Report ........................ 64 Annex 3 - Response to the Government consultation document, Stability and Simplicity .................. 75 Annex 4 - Response to the NFUS proposal outlined Steps to Change .................................................. 84 Annex 5 – Recommendations of previous reports ............................................................................... 86 Crofting and the Environment (SCU and RSPB 1992) ................................................................... 86 Post-Brexit Position Document (Scottish Crofting Federation 2017) ........................................... 87 NFUS Manifesto for Crofting (NFUS 2016) ................................................................................... 88 Trends in Common Grazing (Jones 2011) ..................................................................................... 88 Supporting common grazing through agri-environment (Jones 2012b) ...................................... 91 Agri-environment support for crofting (Jones 2012a) .................................................................. 91 Figure 1. Skerray, Tongue parish (Richard Webb, Creative Commons Licence) 2 List of abbreviations AECS Agri-Environment and Climate Scheme BCMS British Cattle Movement System BES Beef Efficiency Scheme BPS Basic Payment Scheme CAGS Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme CAP Common Agricultural Policy CC Crofting Commission CCIS Crofting Cattle Improvement Scheme CPH County Parish Holding (holding identification number in the format CC/PP/HHHH) eID Electronic Identification ESA Environmentally Sensitive Area (first state agri-environment schemes in Scotland) EU European Union FGS Forestry Grant Scheme HNV High Nature Value IACS Integrated Administration and Control System IT Information Technology LFA Less Favoured Area LFASS Less Favoured Area Support Scheme LPIS Land Parcel Information System LU Livestock Unit (1 LU is the equivalent of one cow) NFUS National Farmers’ Union of Scotland NGO Non-governmental organisation R (Payment) Region (in the context of BPS) RSPB Royal Society for the Protection of Birds SAF Single Application Form SCF Scottish Crofting Federation SCU Scottish Crofters’ Union SG Scottish Government SGRPID Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspectorate Division SNH Scottish Natural Heritage SPS Single Payment Scheme (forerunner to BPS) SSBSS Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme SUSSS Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme WTO World Trade Organisation 3 Introduction Being asked to prepare a report assessing current support for crofting and making proposals on the post-Brexit approach to support was a great honour and a not inconsiderable challenge. Two big issues faced me. The first was how to go about making recommendations at a time when everything is in flux – how could the report avoid becoming immediately obsolete when others are already asking for responses to detailed consultation questions or even drawing up detailed proposals themselves? The answer is I think to start from a set of needs, drawn up by contrasting the vision set out or implied in policy with the current reality. Unless policy itself changes at the most basic level,
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