Scottish Rural Development Programme 2014-2020: Evaluation of Capital Grant Schemes – Main Report
This report presents findings from an independent evaluation of three capital grant schemes funded through the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) 2014-2020.
4. Small Farms Grant Scheme
Summary overview
The SFGS opened for applications in 2015 and closed to new applications in December 2022. The scheme provided capital grants to small farmers to make improvements to their holdings and to improve business sustainability.
The original SFGS EU and SG budget of £6 million was modified significantly during the delivery period in direct response to low uptake. It was ultimately reduced to £473,261 (a 92% decrease). Circa £450,000 expenditure was achieved by the SFGS by December 2020. The SFGS continued to run once the EU budget was exhausted. SG set an additional budget allocation of £1 million in 2020, and while no budget was explicitly allocated for the grant scheme in the last few years, expenditure incurred was absorbed into the portfolio. A further £405,000 of SG expenditure was incurred. The overall expenditure on the SFGS was circa £1 million by December 2023.
Only 304 applications were submitted for the SFGS over the delivery period as a whole, and the average number of applications submitted per annum was low at 38. Further, only around half of applications submitted for the SFGS were approved (52% or 158) – this represents a low approval rate. A sizable proportion of applications were either rejected or withdrawn. Further detail is provided in the Stakeholder Views and Insights Chapter (Chapter 6), however, this was largely due to scheme design and eligibility criteria issues.
Additional data provided by SG for SFGS applications approved from 2019 onwards shows that the vast majority of approved projects were for projects in LFA (92%), and around 40% were from young farmers. Total project costs and grant awards were typically small in scale – less than £10,000 (66% and 79% respectively). There was very limited demand among individual small farmers for the maximum award size of £25,000.
The vast majority of projects approved over this period were for four project types, including: planting of shelter belts and the provision of fences, hedges, walls, gates, or stock grids; erection or improvement of agricultural buildings, and shelters for the temporary housing and sheltering of out-wintered livestock; provision or improvement of facilities for the organised feeding of out-wintered livestock, including permanently fixed troughs and feed barriers, and associated concrete bases; and investment in land management, including the initial grassland improvement works for the restoration of degraded land and the control of bracken.
Data for the same time period shows that the number of applications approved by the 16 area offices varied. Over two-thirds of applications approved from 2019 onwards were for projects in the Highlands and Islands, and over half (57%) of approved applications were completed by males.
Introduction
This chapter provides an overview of the SFGS and is based on a review of information and data provided by SG.
Overview of SFGS
The SFGS opened for applications in 2015 and closed to new applications in December 2022.
The SFGS provided grants to small farmers to allow them to make improvements to their holdings and improve business sustainability. This included preventing crop damage, improving stock control, and upgrading grassland management.
Much of the workings of the SFGS were similar to the NECGS as outlined in Chapter 3. This includes:
- grant thresholds.
- what funding could be used for and what it could cover.
- intervention rates.
- the application and appraisal process.
- the claims process.
- ability to request an extension to project delivery.
- sample of inspections.
Eligibility criteria
This grant scheme was open only to small farmers who had registered or re-registered with Rural Payments and Services.
Small farmers were defined as those who were head of a holding of between three and 30 hectares. This included small farmers who were either:
- owner-occupiers.
- holder of tenancies with a formal contract period of three years or more remaining.
- owners/landlords of holdings where the length, remaining or whole, of a tenancy is three years or less.
To be eligible smaller farmers also had to meet certain income thresholds, including:
- for individual and sole traders, total income could not be greater than £30,700.
- for couples or groups, total gross income could not exceed £41,000.
Registered crofters were signposted to apply to CAGS. Holders of a grazing or mowing tenancy were also not eligible to apply for the SFGS, as these tenancies only exist for a maximum of 364 days.
Budget allocation
The original SFGS EU and SG budget of £6 million was modified several times (and very substantially) during the delivery period, see Table 4.1. The original budget was reduced to £2 million and subsequently to £473,261 (a 92% decrease).
| Original budget | Final budget | Change | Percentage change |
|---|---|---|---|
| £6,000,000 | £473,261 | -£5,526,739 | -92% |
Source: Scottish Government.
Like the NECGS, the SFGS then continued to operate funded by SG once the EU budget was exhausted. SG set an additional budget allocation of £1 million for the SFGS in 2020. No budget was explicitly allocated by SG for the SFGS in the last few years, rather expenditure incurred was absorbed into the portfolio.
Expenditure
Circa £450,000 expenditure was achieved by the SFGS by December 2023, see Table 4.2. This is slightly less than the final budget outlined in Table 4.1.
| Calendar year | EU funds | Scottish Government funds | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| 2016 | £8,104 | £14,220 | £22,324 |
| 2017 | £57,897 | £96,441 | £154,338 |
| 2018 | £17,924 | £21,643 | £39,567 |
| 2019 | £56,062 | £67,695 | £123,758 |
| 2020 | £56,647 | £52,290 | £108,937 |
| 2021 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| 2022 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| 2023 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Total | £196,634 | £252,290 | £448,923 |
Source: Scottish Government.
Further, additional national funds (SG monies) totalling circa £595,000 were used to fully fund some SFGS activity in the latter years of the scheme (2020 to 2023), see Table 4.3. This represents an underspend of £405,000 (against the £1 million allocated by SG in 2020) or 41%.
| Calendar year | Scottish Government funds |
|---|---|
| 2020 | £34,267 |
| 2021 | £170,659 |
| 2022 | £209,277 |
| 2023 | £180,976 |
| Total | £595,178 |
Source: Scottish Government
Total expenditure on the SFGS was therefore circa £1 million with much of the funding coming from SG, see Table 4.4.
| Calendar year | EU funds | Scottish Government funds | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-2023 | £196,634 | £847,468 | £1,044,102 |
Source: Scottish Government.
Applications submitted and approvals
Only 304 applications were submitted for the SFGS over the eight-year delivery period, see Table 4.5. The number of applications submitted fluctuated over the delivery period, and the average number of applications submitted on an annual basis was 38.
Just over half of applications submitted for the SFGS were approved (52% or 158) – this represents a low approval rate overall. This means that almost half (48%) of SFGS applications were rejected or withdrawn. The approval rate of applications was lowest in the first year (30%) – it increased in subsequent years and continued to fluctuate. The average number of applications approved on an annual basis was 20.
Approximately 60% of approved SFGS applications were for unique ‘businesses’, and approximately 70% of grant recipients received one grant.[5]
| Year | Number of applications submitted | Number of applications approved | Proportion of applications approved |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-2016 | 44 | 13 | 30% |
| 2016-2017 | 22 | 14 | 64% |
| 2017-2018 | 26 | 14 | 54% |
| 2018-2019 | 35 | 16 | 46% |
| 2019-2020 | 41 | 26 | 63% |
| 2020-2021 | 59 | 34 | 58% |
| 2021-2022 | 35 | 16 | 46% |
| 2022-2023 | 42 | 25 | 60% |
| Total | 304 | 158 | 52% |
Source: Scottish Government.
Circa £1.2 million of SGGS funding was approved, see Table 4.6.
| Year | Grant funding approved | Percentage of total grant funding approved |
|---|---|---|
| 2015-2016 | £143,407 | 12% |
| 2016-2017 | £96,528 | 8% |
| 2017-2018 | £116,505 | 10% |
| 2018-2019 | £109,895 | 9% |
| 2019-2020 | £177,720 | 15% |
| 2020-2021 | £233,725 | 20% |
| 2021-2022 | £89,396 | 8% |
| 2022-2023 | £220,696 | 19% |
| Total | £1,187,872 | 100% |
Source: Scottish Government.
Note: all data presented in this chapter from this point on is based on a separate dataset provided by SG for the SFGS and is for illustrative purposes only. This dataset relates to applications approved from 2019 onwards and not for the whole delivery period. There were many data gaps, the number/value of approved projects does not match exactly with the data presented above, and it was not possible to provide wider analysis for the grant scheme’s delivery period as a whole. The data may not be representative of the total population of grant recipients.
Projects authorised to proceed
From the data provided on SFGS applications approved from 2019 onwards, there appears to be some delay in projects receiving authorisation to proceed when compared to the year the application was received, see Table 4.7.
| Year approved application received | AtP in 2019 | AtP in 2020 | AtP in 2021 | AtP in 2022 | AtP in 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 78% | 22% | - | - | - |
| 2020 | 69% | 29% | 3% | ||
| 2021 | 87% | 13% | |||
| 2022 | 48% | 52% |
Source: Scottish Government.
N=106 (2019-2022 approved applications data).
At the time of reporting, there were a very small number of SFGS claims still within their 12 month contract period that had yet to submit a final financial claim.
Project costs and grant award size
Points to note on project costs and grant awards from the data provided on SFGS applications approved from 2019 onwards (see Tables 4.8 and 4.9) includes that:
- circa £740,000 was awarded to approved projects - this represents 64% of the total project costs.[6]
- a majority of both total project costs and grant awards were small in scale – less than £10,000 (66% and 79% respectively).
- there was very limited demand among individual small farmers for the maximum award size (£25,000) – three applications were approved at this level. None of the approved applications over this period were from constituted groups of small farmers – this is because the group application is not appropriate for any type of organisation apart from Common Grazing committees or sheep stock clubs who apply to CAGS.
| Range | Total project costs - Number | Total project costs - Percentage | Grant award size - Number | Grant award size - Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to £5,000 | 44 | 42% | 57 | 54% |
| £5,001 and £10,000 | 25 | 24% | 26 | 25% |
| £10,001 and £15,000 | 13 | 12% | 4 | 4% |
| £15,002 and £20,000 | 3 | 3% | 8 | 8% |
| £20,000+ | 21 | 20% | 11 | 10% |
Source: Scottish Government.
N=106 (2019-2022 approved applications data).
Values rounded to nearest £10.
| Total project costs | Grant award size | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | £1,150,000 | £740,410 |
| Minimum | £150 | £120 |
| Maximum | £41,670 | £25,000 |
| Average | £10,850 | £6,990 |
Source: Scottish Government.
N=106 (2019-2022 approved applications data).
Values rounded to nearest £10.
Project type
The most common type of SFGS project supported between 2019 and 2022, in terms of options selected by farmers and crofters in the application form, was the planting of shelter belts and the provision of fences, hedges, walls, gates, or stock grids (34% of approved projects), see Table 4.10. This was followed by:
- erection or improvement of agricultural buildings, and shelters for the temporary housing and sheltering of out-wintered livestock (29% of approved projects).
- provision or improvement of facilities for the organised feeding of out-wintered livestock, including permanently fixed troughs and feed barriers, and associated concrete bases (15% of approved projects).
- investment in land management, including the initial grassland improvement works for the restoration of degraded land and the control of bracken (13% of approved projects).
Taken together, these project types represented the vast majority of projects implemented over this period.
| Project type | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Planting of shelter belts and the provision of fences, hedges, walls, gates or stock grids | 35 | 34% |
| Erection or improvement of agricultural buildings, and shelters for the temporary housing and sheltering of out-wintered livestock | 30 | 29% |
| Provision or improvement of facilities for the organised feeding of out-wintered livestock, including permanently fixed troughs and feed barriers, and associated concrete bases | 16 | 15% |
| Investment in land management, including the initial grassland improvement works for the restoration of degraded land and the control of bracken | 13 | 13% |
| Field drainage | 8 | 8% |
| Provision or improvement of equipment for the handling and treatment of livestock | 6 | 6% |
| Provision or improvement of access tracks to land improvement areas, roads, bridges, culverts or boat slips | 5 | 5% |
| Provision of electrical equipment | * | * |
| Works associated with agricultural building, including yards, hard-standings, dungsteads, and silos (excluding grain silos) | * | * |
| All other forms of general drainage including under drainage, hill drainage and ditching | * | * |
| Provision or improvement of amenities, including water supplies, mains electricity connections or electricity generators | * | * |
| Slurry stores | 0 | - |
Source: Scottish Government.
* Data supressed as number less than five.
N=104 (2019-2020 approved applications data, two missing responses).
Multiple response question in application form where applicants could select more than one option and all that applied. Percentages may total more than 100% as a result.
Geography
Between 2019 and 2022, around two-thirds of the area offices (11 of the 16) approved applications for the SFGS. Points to note from the data analysis include that:
- the number of SFGS applications approved by area office varied – from five or less to a high of 27 (Thurso).
- no SFGS applications were approved over this period by several Highlands and Islands area offices, including Benbecula, Lerwick, Portree, Stornoway.
- majority of SFGS applications approved between 2019 and 2022 (69%) were from applicants located in the Highlands and Islands, see Table 4.11.
| Region | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Highlands and Islands | 73 | 69% |
| South Western Scotland | 20 | 19% |
| North Eastern Scotland | 8 | 8% |
| Eastern Scotland | 5 | 5% |
Source: Scottish Government.
N=106 (2019-2022 approved applications data).
EKOS grouped the 16 area offices into relevant region of SRDP 2014-2020.
Application type
Some data on SFGS applications approved between 2019 and 2022 by application type was suppressed. The main points to note from the data analysis include that:
- the vast majority of applications approved over this period were in LFA (97, 92%) - The remainder were in NLFA (nine, 8%).
- almost 40% of approved applications were from young farmers (41, 39%).
- there were differences across the data set in terms of the proportion of SFGS grant recipients classed as either “Young farmer under 41”, “Head of holding within five years”, or “Young farmer under 41 and Head of holding within five years” – overall (42%), LFA (38%) and NLFA (89%).
Gender of applicant
While over half of the SFGS applications approved between 2019 and 2022 were from male applicants (that is, the gender of the person who completed the form), a sizeable proportion of applications were completed by females, see Table 4.12.
| Gender | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Male | 60 | 57% |
| Female | 41 | 39% |
| Non-individual | 5 | 5% |
Source: Scottish Government
N=106 (2019-2022 approved applications data).
Project monitoring data
Monitoring information was sparse. With the exception of financial claim data and on-farm inspections on at least 5% of claims (as EC law required) no other monitoring data was available post project completion for the SFGS.
Contact
Email: socialresearch@gov.scot
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback