Farming leaders slam changes to aid scheme

CHANGES to a Scottish Government programme aimed at helping rural development have come under fire from farming leaders.

The Rural Priorities scheme is "not up to scratch", according to the National Farmers Union in Scotland, which called for a government-backed review.

Rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead insisted the scheme had been a "big success story" as part of the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP). It has seen 4,000 projects benefit to the tune of more than 330 million since it started in 2008.

But changes announced yesterday will see a delay in considering any business development applications until 2011, as well as the introduction of a 250,000 cap per project.

Jim McLaren, NFU Scotland president, said the scheme had provided a "massively important" injection of funds for rural areas. But he added: "It is an inescapable fact that the administration of the scheme has not been up to scratch.

"Applicants expect to have to jump through many hurdles to secure funding like this.

|However, what is causing huge frustration amongst land managers and the experts that put together their applications is the delay in processing applications and a 'shifting of the goalposts'."

Mr Lochhead said the looming public spending cuts were behind the cap. He added: "Pressures on public spending mean there will be no more extra money for the SRDP. The 250,000 ceiling on business development will help spread out that strand of the funding, giving more applicants a chance of success."