Measuring the impacts of Scotland's agricultural support – a national level monitoring framework
The monitoring framework for Scotland’s agricultural support
Strategic outcome 5: Support for a Just Transition
The fifth strategic outcome, Support for a Just Transition, can be viewed as an underpinning component of the outcomes framework. Improvements in the other strategic outcomes can only be achieved through investment in skills development, knowledge exchange, digital services, and protecting mental health and wellbeing. Indicators are mapped in Figure 6 below.
A Just Transition is concerned not only with achieving environmental and economic change, but with ensuring that people and communities are supported throughout that process. This includes enabling workers to retire with dignity, supporting individuals to enter and progress in the sector, and ensuring that the costs and benefits of transition are shared fairly across society. The Just Transition provides a lens for considering what is being delivered and how it is being delivered.
The indicators included within this framework provide an important overview of progress towards a Just Transition and can highlight trends and emerging issues over time. However, many aspects of fairness, inclusion, participation, and lived experience are not easily captured through monitoring alone. Understanding whether we are achieving progress towards a Just Transition requires further evaluation activity, drawing on qualitative evidence and stakeholder perspectives. This will be achieved during the evaluation stage of the Rural Support Plan.
Indicators for baseline
- Education levels (increasing)
- Agricultural workers undertaking Continuous Professional Development (CPD) (increasing)
- Number of recipients advised by the Farm Advisory Service (increasing)
- Number of recipients advised by other AKIS services (increasing)
- Awareness of Mental Health and Wellbeing services available (increasing)
- Reliability of internet (increasing)
- Satisfaction with web application processes (increasing)
Sub-outcomes
- Skills
- Knowledge exchange
- Wellbeing and mental health
- Access to services
Strategic Outcome
- Farmers and crofters are supported through the climate and nature transition, developing the skills and knowledge needed for sustainable and regenerative farming, to enable innovation, and attracting a new generation to the industry. They are empowered to make decisions about their future, with their social, physical, and mental wellbeing supported throughout.
Sub-outcome 5a: Skills
Improve uptake of skills development and increase our understanding of skills gaps
Improving skills development in our agricultural community ensures that people are equipped with the skills and opportunities needed to evolve the sector for a more sustainable future. This is tracked through two indicators on education and training.
|
Indicator (Source) |
Desired trend |
Data description |
Context and limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Education levels |
Increasing |
This tracks the proportion of individuals in agricultural households who hold some sort of educational qualifications. |
This indicator helps to assess the relative education levels of those living in agricultural households. The survey relies on self-reporting. |
|
Agricultural workers undertaking Continuous Professional Development (CPD) |
Increasing |
This indicator measures the proportion of people in agricultural households who have participated in any form of CPD. |
This indicator helps assess the extent to which the sector is actively engaging in ongoing learning, skill maintenance, and professional development. The survey relies on self-reporting. |
Sub-outcome 5b: Knowledge exchange
Improve collaborative learning and increase opportunities for knowledge exchange and peer-to-peer learning
We understand that increasing the ability of farmers and crofters to exchange knowledge, between themselves and with others, can improve uptake of new and sustainable practices. This is tracked through two activity indicators on participation in certain programmes, specifically the Farm Advisory Service (FAS) and the Agriculture Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS). Measuring the participation in other knowledge exchange events are also likely to form part of Tier monitoring.
|
Indicator (Source) |
Desired trend |
Data description |
Context and limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Number of recipients advised by the Farm Advisory Service (Scottish Government Farm Advisory Service reporting) |
Increasing |
This tracks the number of farmers and crofters advised by FAS, through phone calls, website views, and events attended. |
This indicator serves as a proxy for collaborative learning and peer-to-peer knowledge exchange within the agricultural sector. |
|
Number of recipients advised by other AKIS services (Scottish Government AKIS reporting) |
Increasing |
This tracks the number of people who receive funding from AKIS services including Next Generation Practical Training Funds, Land-based Pre-apprenticeship Training Funds, and Monitor Farms. |
This indicator serves as a proxy for collaborative learning and peer-to-peer knowledge exchange within the agricultural sector. |
Sub-outcome 5c: Wellbeing and mental health
Improve awareness and accessibility of wellbeing and mental health services
We want to be able to baseline and track, over time, awareness of mental health and wellbeing services available to agricultural workers and families, so that improved access can be achieved.
|
Indicator (Source) |
Desired trend |
Data description |
Context and limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Awareness of Mental Health and Wellbeing services available |
Increasing |
This tracks the proportion and makeup of agricultural households that report awareness of available mental health and wellbeing services. |
This indicator offers a direct measure of outreach effectiveness, visibility of support networks, and potential gaps in communication or access. This survey relies on self-reporting, and the data does not capture understanding of how to access or engage with services. |
Sub-outcome 5d: Access to services
Improve satisfaction with customer ability to access and engage with digital services
Understanding the accessibility of Scottish Government’s digital services is vital for the future of agricultural businesses and households, as more services move away from paper to the internet.
|
Indicator (Source) |
Desired trend |
Data description |
Context and limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Reliability of internet |
Increasing |
This indicator tracks the self-reported reliability of internet in agricultural households. |
This data acts as a proxy for accessibility to digital services. The survey relies on self-reporting, and the data does not capture understanding of how to access or engage with services. |
|
Satisfaction with web application processes |
Increasing |
This indicator tracks the relative difficulty clients reporting in finding their way around the Rural Payments and Service website. |
The most recent available data from the Customer Satisfaction Survey is from 2021. There are plans to repeat the survey in the future. |
Contact
Email: socialresearch@gov.scot