Agricultural reform: strategic environmental assessment - post-adoption statement

Consultation

Agricultural Reform is an incremental improvement and continuously evolving programme of change with numerous smaller changes being implemented over time which cumulatively merited this high level SEA on the programme level changes.

Agricultural Reform has been a long-term objective of Scottish Government and consultation has been a key element of the changes developed and the creation of the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 which will provide the longer term powers to deliver future agricultural support.

We consulted on the Agriculture (Retained EU Law and Data) (Scotland) Bill and the Regulations made under this Act will be used to deliver on the stated objective of the Act to enable the continued operation of current CAP schemes and policies, but also to allow them to be progressively improved and simplified.

In March 2022 the Scottish Government set out its “Vision for Agriculture”. The Vision shows how we will change support for farming and food production in Scotland. This was followed by a public consultation on the proposed new support framework and bill for the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024.

In August 2022, the Scottish Government ran a public consultation titled ‘Delivering our Vision for Scottish Agriculture’: Proposals for a new Agriculture Bill and ran for 14 weeks. In total there were 392 valid responses to the consultation comprising of responses from 225 individuals and 167 organisations. The public consultation played a key role in gathering further evidence in relation to the delivery of key outcomes (such as climate change adaptation and mitigation; nature protection and restoration; high quality food production; and wider rural development).

Whole Farm Plan

The ‘Delivering our Vision for Scottish Agriculture’ consultation included a section specifically on the Whole Farm Plan and enhanced conditions and transition proposals which was supported, developed and informed by the ARIOB prior to its August publication.

The Whole Farm Plan was also consulted on as part of the Agriculture and Rural (Communities) Scotland Act 2024 consultation process.

After the consultation there was regular consultation with Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB). Broad engagement on the minimum standards of the plans and audits occurred with the Food & Agriculture Stakeholders’ Taskforce (FAST).

Further detailed consultation on the minimum standards of each of the plans and audits also occurred with NatureScot, Scottish Quality Crops (SQC), Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), Scottish Pig Producers, National Sheep Association (Scotland), and the Scottish Beef Association. A deer vet was also consulted in order to give consideration to Scottish deer farms.

Through our consultation work, we are aware that there is strong support for the national collation of baseline data.

Detailed co-development has also occurred with Whole Farm Plan Steering Group which was established by the Cabinet Secretary in 2023. The group met monthly and is comprised of individuals from the following organisations: National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS), Land Resources and Training (Lantra), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Land Workers Alliance, Scottish Tenant Farmers Association (STFA), Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) and the Scottish Land Matching Service.

Enhanced Greening

A co-development and collaborative engagement approach was taken for this piece of work. We engaged and worked with the sector to co-design new support and develop services in line with the Scottish Approach to Service Design. We continue to work closely with the agriculture industry, most notably through the ARIOB1 and other industry stakeholder groups, to meet our shared objectives, and to build on the excellent work completed by the successful Farmer-Led Groups (FLGs)2 initiative. Examples of close working include holding workshops and regular meetings with key stakeholders and carrying out user research with crofters, farmers, and advisors from a wide range of user groups. These user groups were identified for the user research, where all Scottish farmers or crofters would fall into at least one category:

• User group 1: people who will be newly required to do Ecological Focus Areas (“EFAs”) due to exemption changes
• User group 2: people who will not have to do EFAs
• User group 3: people who are already doing EFAs
• User group 4: advisors/agents/consultants, who work with the people and the groups above.

Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS) – Extension of the Application Period:

A co-development and collaborative engagement approach was also taken for this work. We engaged and worked with the sector to co-design new support and develop these services in line with the Scottish Approach to Service Design. We continue to work closely with the agriculture industry and stakeholder groups, to meet our shared objectives, and to build on the work completed by the SSBSS Reform Stakeholder Group.

We have discussed the changes with the NFUS and Scottish Beef Association (SBA). Given the need to act on our operational review of our systems and that these proposals will give applicants more time to make their submissions both NFUS and SBA should support the changes.

SSBSS – Small Claims Derogation:

We discussed the changes with the SCF and the Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC). Advice to Ministers on the derogation took account of comments made by the SSBSS Reform Stakeholder Group in November 2023, who were notified following the announcement of the derogation in June 2025. No meeting was requested by the Group to discuss the derogation.