NFU Scotland has written to Scotland’s newly appointed Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary, Shona Robison, demanding that the £33m ‘deferred’ from the agricultural budget last year be returned.

In the Scottish Government’s Emergency Budget Review (EBR) in 2022 this funding – awarded to Scotland as part of the 2019 Bew Review – was taken out of the budget.

The then Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy, John Swinney, publicly confirmed to Scottish Parliament in a statement that the deferred budget of £33m would be returned to the sector in future years, ensuring this supposedly ring-fenced money was ultimately used to deliver on Scotland’s rural priorities.

Future budgets are set through the annual parliamentary Budget Bill process and the appropriate profile for returning this funding would be for it to be considered as part of the 2024-25 process. In response to a Parliamentary Question last month, Ms Robison confirmed that the money would be used to invest in Scotland’s rural priorities.

The union has now requested to meet with the her and her team to discuss the rural affairs budget to emphasise how Scotland’s farmers and crofters continue to use that public support to deliver on food security, reducing emissions, nature restoration, supporting rural communities and growing the rural economy.

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