Seòmar agus comataidhean

FFIS was delivered entirely within existing Scottish Government staffing resources. No additional staff were appointed or recruited and no additional staffing costs were incurred. The scheme was prioritised and delivered by existing staff capacity for a defined period, in line with normal business practice.

The Future Farming Investment Scheme was a pilot scheme and we are now looking at what we do in the future, taking on board the concerns raised, to make sure we continue to support the agriculture sector. We will review the scheme to better understand what worked and where improvement to any potential future scheme could be made, to ensure it is more tightly targeted for any future rounds.

I refer the member to the answers to questions S6O-05097 on 5 November 2025 and S6W-41741 on 21 November 2025.

Decisions on any potential future funding rounds of the Future Farming Investment Scheme have not taken place. If the scheme was to be run again, the Scottish Government would engage with stakeholders to determine any changes to the scheme.

There were many reasons why applications were not considered eligible for grant supporting. These were:

• One or more items applied for not fundable (multiple unrelated items applied for as a single entry/incomplete description/no supporting animals for item/no lengths, areas etc.)
• Application email provided was not valid
• Business declared their business didn't deliver any of the Scottish Governments Vision for Agriculture
• Failed the Active Farmer/Crofter BPS test
• No other Support Scheme Claims
• No Single Application Form Submitted
• Not Registered & Approved for Funding
• Didn't Comply With Whole Farm Plan requirements for BPS
• Payment Holds Applied To Business
• Agricultural Area Less than 3 hectares
• Previous Capital Grant Scheme Claim Refused
• Declared New Entrant but evidence showed not meeting FFIS definition
• Declared Young Farmer but evidence showed not meeting FFIS definition
• Declared Organic Land but evidence showed not meeting FFIS definition
• Declared they were a medium sized business to obtain higher grant than entitled to
• Declared they were a large business to obtain higher grant than entitled to
• Declared they were a small business but farmed area greater than 30 hectares
• Declared that more than 50% of their agricultural business was on a tenancy but wasn't
• Declared they were island based but weren’t
• Did not declare previous SACGS/CAGS Payment
• Recoverability Safeguard Not Passed (level of outstanding debt to SG)
• Applied for more than their maximum grant eligibility

No, individual feedback is not available to businesses. However, businesses can email the FFIS team if they have concerns.

The Scottish Government does not record this data.

I refer the member to the answer to S6W-41743 on 18 November 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

In the event any businesses offered funding choose not to accept their offer of grant, offers will be made to the next highest scoring businesses to ensure full use of the scheme budget.

Figures include the additional 122 offers of grant that will be made following validation checks.