McArthur challenges Minister on allocation of FFIS funding for islanders

Orkney’s MSP Liam McArthur has today challenged the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, Jim Fairlie, on the funding allocations made under the Future Farming Investment Scheme.  

Despite the Government indicating that priority would be given to island businesses, as well as new entrants, young farmers and tenanted farmers, only 3.7% of applications from Orkney were supported, receiving just 3.48% of the fund across 62 grant offers. Shetland received only 1.88% of the fund.  

Speaking at Topical Questions, Mr McArthur asked the Minister to explain how the funding allocations had been decided, and why island communities had appeared to fare so poorly.  

Commenting after the exchange, Mr McArthur said:  

“Demand has clearly been high for the Future Farming Investment Scheme, and the Minister was quick to argue that this demonstrates the appetite within farming communities to engage in these programmes.

“Given the astonishment, confusion and anger felt by those who remain in the dark as to why their applications were rejected, I suspect the Scottish Government may find that many farmers will be far less willing to engage in future.

“The Minister has offered to provide further detail on how allocation decisions were reached, but it’s clear that this process was rushed, leading to poor implementation and communication. Farmers in Orkney are now left counting the cost.”