Seòmar agus comataidhean

The route map has set stuff out from the start.

I have just had a quick check with James Muldoon—we are talking about probably starting to implement stuff properly in the autumn of this year.

I think that you are right. On day 1, we set out the vision, which is that we want to continue to be able to produce, in this country, the food that the country needs, and we want to support our farmers in the best way that we can.

A lot of the stuff that we are trying to deliver now came from the farmer-led groups. You will remember the five farmer-led groups; off the top of my head, I cannot remember what they were called. They looked at their sectors and asked how they could reduce the emissions from their practices while continuing to be sustainable. We are trying to bring all those things together. For months, the members of those groups discussed how they would deliver stuff.

One of my frustrations in talking about farming is to do with the fact that farming is vast. An upland farmer will have nothing in common with an arable farmer, a dairy farmer or a pig farmer. It is a vast area. We are trying to bring all those things together and ask, “How do we produce food?” That is the question at its simplest. How do we produce food in such a way that we can feed the country but also meet the objectives of the policy?

I see that the convener is indicating to me that I should wind up. Clearly, I am talking too much. I am passionate, convener.

I think that where you are going with that question is how the rural support plan will tie in to policy affecting rural communities. The Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 is not just about agriculture in Scotland; it is about the entire rural community. If you need more information on that, I will write to the committee with a fuller explanation, if it would help.

Good morning, convener, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to discuss the future of agriculture policy with the committee.

As we know, Scotland’s agricultural businesses are at the heart of our rural communities, and we want to ensure that farmers and crofters continue to thrive while we look to tackle the twin threats of climate change and biodiversity loss. That is why we are changing the support that we offer to farmers and crofters. We will continue to support active farming and sustainable food production through essential support and direct payments, but we are asking farmers and crofters to do more for climate and nature in return.

We want our support to deliver five outcomes: high-quality food production, thriving agricultural businesses, climate change mitigation and adaptation, nature restoration and support for a just transition. The systems that we use to support farmers and crofters were built to deliver the common agricultural policy, and they did that successfully. However, it is now clear that those systems are limiting what we can do to deliver the vision for agriculture, and more fundamental reform is needed to give farmers and crofters the support that they deserve in order to deliver on those outcomes.

The way in which Scotland delivers its public services is changing, and we plan to modernise the way in which we work while improving efficiency and user experience. We need to give farmers and crofters a modern, easy-to-use service that meets their needs while enabling them to farm in a way that protects our environment. Delivering all of that will require a comprehensive organisational redesign. In the immediate term, we will continue to work towards our vision for agriculture as far as we can with the tools that we already have at our disposal, and that includes the changes that we will discuss today, such as the whole farm plan.

At the same time, we are working closely with stakeholders on our future operating model and the transition plan. It is complex and will take time, but it will deliver the investment in the sector that is needed to deliver against our ambitious outcomes in partnership with those who are most impacted. I am happy to take questions from the committee.

We will review the split annually. When the single application form information comes in at the end of the year, we will review it again. It will develop as time goes on. I cannot give you a timescale that says that we will review it in, say, 2027 and then it will change to something else. It could change on the basis of what the desired outcomes are at any given time.

I have absolutely every intention of continuing to talk to the industry about what we need to do next. Whether that means that we move away from the basic payment or do something else with it remains to be seen, because we need to see how this beds in, develops and grows and whether it is fulfilling its objectives for the Government and for industry.

However, we do not know that yet. We are putting this in place and we are going to try to make it function in the best way possible. The best way of doing that is to get this done and allow it to happen, and then we will see what happens as we develop it into the rural support plan. As I have said, the rural support plan will not necessarily stay as it is; it will form the basis of where we are. However, just as the CAP used to change—indeed, as it still changes—the rural support plan might change as we develop policies.

Again, I will need to come back on that, because I do not know the technical spec of the software that is in place at the minute.

The measures will tie into the sustainable and regenerative practices that we are trying to encourage everyone to look at in order to work out what works for them. It is part of the package of measures that we have put in place and part of the conversations that we have been having. We are in a pretty good place. Tim Eagle might not agree with me entirely, and some people out there will say, “No, I don’t want this,” but it is going to happen. It is a case of getting everybody on board as much as we possibly can.

I will ask the officials to talk about how that will be done technically, and we can expand on that in writing if that would be helpful.

I have a full page of words that I can read out to you right now but, if it would be better, again, we can write to you on what the IT system can deliver. It is entirely up to you, depending on what you prefer.