Rural Support Plan (RSP)

Approach to Reform and the Rural Support Plan

Agricultural Reform Programme

The Scottish Government progresses agricultural reform through its Agricultural Reform Programme (ARP).

ARP takes a co-development approach, engaging key stakeholders to help develop future policy and the new support framework by inviting them to share their views and ideas, their sectoral expertise and lived experiences playing a vital role in ensuring value for money through evidence based design that is both efficient and effective in meeting needs and achieving desired outcomes.

Stakeholders include industry bodies, membership organisations, representative stakeholder groups, Scottish Government sponsored stakeholder groups, government organisations, non-government organisations, statutory bodies, customers (farmers, crofters, and land managers) and rural communities.

Co-development to date has included:

• interviews, surveys, workshops, testing and trials that informed the changes for 2025 with further topics to follow (there are currently 1,250 active research volunteers signed-up);
• a customer panel consisting of farmers, crofters, and land managers to take part in research around service design;
• since the end of 2021, approximately 3,500 customer survey responses and 250 interviews and in person testing with farmers, crofters, land managers, and advisers;
• regular and ad-hoc meetings of stakeholder groups with both officials and Ministers throughout the year.

The Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB), made up of key industry stakeholders, was established to inform agriculture policy reform. The ARIOB acts in an advisory capacity to the Scottish Government, based on a holistic, collaborative approach that helps to inform the decision-making processes of Scottish Ministers at the right stages. It meets regularly, both online and in-person, and remains a vital forum for engaging on key issues.

The ARIOB is supported by an Academic Advisory Panel who provide advice based on the available science, knowledge, and evidence. Further support is offered by the Agriculture Policy Development Group which assists with the development of policy detail. Throughout the lifespan of the ARIOB, several sub-groups have been established to drive forward policy development from members with expertise in specific areas of industry.

Co-development is not about seeking agreement from everyone, as any change is likely to have its supporters and opponents. It is the role of Scottish Ministers to make balanced decisions taking into account all perspectives.

Alongside the co-development work, the Scottish Government is also engaging with the sector to make sure farmers, crofters and land managers are prepared for change. The Scottish Government is undertaking an intensive engagement programme. This includes:

• writing to all farmers and crofters that completed a Single Application Form in 2024 and 2025 at regular intervals, letting them know what is changing and where they can access support;
• attending shows and events across the country to talk directly to farmers and crofters and answer their questions;
• publishing guides to the changes in trade media;
• publishing information on the Rural Payments and Services website, including in the ARP route map.

The Scottish Government also funds the Farm Advisory Service, which has also promoted the changes to farmers and crofters, including through in person and online events, podcasts, and videos.

Future Policy Work

The ARIOB was asked to consider how we might co-develop future policy principles that help deliver the overarching objectives of the ARC Act and future agricultural support through the four-tier framework. The Agriculture Policy Development Group was expanded to continue that work at pace.

Evidence Underpinning Future Support Scheme Design

There has been a range of evidence used to inform agricultural reform including:

The Supporting evidence and analysis report outlined the current position of the Scottish agricultural sector, with evidence aligned to the objectives in the Vision for Agriculture, and provided information on the approach to assessing new policy proposals as they were taken through secondary legislation.

The New Rural Support Scheme development - evidence synthesis report covers twelve written reports providing evidence reviews, analysis, summaries, and expert briefings on agriculture in Scotland, with a focus on sustainable food production that tackles climate change and nature restoration.

The Scottish Rural Development Programme 2014-2020: ex-post evaluation presented findings from an independent evaluation of the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) 2014-2020. The evaluation covers the period from 26 May 2015 (the date the Programme was first formally approved) to 31 December 2023. The evaluation is mainly a backwards look at what was delivered and achieved by the 15 SRDP schemes and to meet the European Commission requirement for ex-post evaluations. The report is structured in line with the European Commission’s 30 Common Evaluation Questions.

The Environment, natural resources and agriculture strategic research 2022-2027

funds science, research, and evidence across a range of research and academic institutes. It has provided an evidence base to support policy needs in the environment, natural resources and agriculture portfolio and its research has underpinned policy development for Agricultural reform.

Consultation on the Rural Support Plan

Section 4 of the ARC Act stipulates that when preparing a Rural Support Plan the Scottish Ministers must consult such persons as they consider representative of the interests of:

• farmers (including tenant farmers), crofters and land managers, and
• people who live and work in rural communities

The Scottish Ministers must also consult :

• Food Standards Scotland
• Historic Environment Scotland
• Scottish Environment Protection Agency
• Scottish Natural Heritage (“NatureScot”),
• the Scottish Food Commission, and
• such other persons as they consider appropriate

When amending a Rural Support Plan the Scottish Ministers must consult such persons as they consider likely to have an interest in, or be affected by, the amendments to the rural support plan.

When laying the Rural Support Plan, or an amended plan, before the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Ministers must lay a statement describing the consultation undertaken. Details of the consultation undertaken in respect of this version of the Rural Support Plan can be found within the accompanying Consultation Statement.