We sought views on proposals for a new Agriculture Bill, “Delivering our Vision for Scottish Agriculture. Proposals for a new Agriculture Bill”. The consultation opened on 29 August 2022 and closed on 05 December 2022.
The consultation sought views on proposals which aim to deliver the Vision for Agriculture and transform how we support farming and food production in Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.
As part of this consultation to gather views from a range of stakeholders and from members of the public across Scotland, we also undertook 9 in-person and 5 online engagement events.
A total of 392 valid responses were received to the consultation, of these 225 were from individuals, and 167 were from organisations. The in-person and online engagement events were attended by approximately 600 people. We heard a range of views from members of the public and stakeholder organisations across Scotland. Overall, the consultation analysis shows that all proposals in the consultation received a higher level of support than opposition. Respondents were also given the opportunity to provide further feedback on each proposal. Following qualitative analysis, these views have been presented via emerging themes. It is important to highlight that many views and themes relate to the detail of future support and schemes, and therefore subsequent secondary legislation, which was not consulted on at this stage. These responses will be considered by policy leads during further policy development.
We commissioned an independent research company, Diffley Partnership, to undertake an independent analysis of all responses and feedback received to the online consultation and during the consultation events. The consultation analysis report was published on 22 June 2023, and presents the findings from the public consultation and explains the methodology that was used to analyse the responses.
Where permission to publish consultation responses has been provided, the responses are now available to be viewed on Citizens Space.
The responses and the analysis report to this consultation have informed the development of the new Agriculture Bill. We have been using the responses to the consultation to help inform the new Agriculture Bill to reflect the feedback received during the consultation. The wide range of answers and evidence, which relate to future schemes and policy, will be taken into account to inform future policy development.
An independent analysis of the responses to the consultation on proposals for a new Agriculture Bill, “Delivering our Vision for Scottish Agriculture. Proposals for a new Agriculture Bill”, was published on 22 June 2023 and can be accessed via the link below.
View submitted responses where consent has been given to publish the response.
The Scottish Government is committed to realising our Vision for Agriculture and transforming how we support farming and food production in Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.
Recent years have seen a series of global shocks that have had, and are continuing to have, an impact on global food security. These include EU-exit impacts, the COVID-19 pandemic and, most recently, the illegal invasion of Ukraine which is having an undeniable impact on global agriculture and upon all aspects of our domestic food and drink supply chain. This has highlighted the requirement for the new Agriculture Bill to be adaptive in supporting farmers, crofter and land managers in the near, medium and long term future and the proposals outlined below reflect this.
While we deal with the short-term challenges, we need to keep an eye to the long-term and the action needed now to ensure we have a healthy environment and thriving communities for years to come. We are committed to tackling the climate and biodiversity crises and reaching Net Zero by 2045. Our agricultural sector has an indispensable role to play as we address these challenges and we will continue to support these efforts.
We have also published a Plain English Summary Guide and Gaelic translation of the consultation document which is available via the above link.
As well as publishing this consultation paper, we have organised a series of events and workshops to provide the opportunity for you to engage with the proposals contained in this consultation. All are welcome to come along to ask questions, raise issues, and contribute to the discussion.
In support of the consultation, the Scottish Government has announced a series of consultation events that will take place over the next few months.
Face to face events across Scotland, looking at the Agriculture Bill in general (click a location to go to the Eventbrite booking page):
In addition to the in-person events, there will also be four online virtual events focusing on specific themes included in the Bill. The four thematic events will cover:
To get the most out of these events, we recommend that in advance of attending the event, you read through the Agriculture Bill Consultation document.
"Scotland’s farmers, crofters and land-managers are vital to our ambition to make our nation fairer and greener. We should not shy away from being clear that we are on a journey of significant transformation. I urge everyone to take the opportunity to share your views and engage with this process, and please encourage everyone you know to take part as well. I know many of you will have contributed to the Agricultural transition consultation we ran previously, and this consultation builds on those responses. Your responses to this consultation will give us tremendous insight into how best to realise our Vision for Agriculture in a way that works for our rural communities."
Mairi Gougeon
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands
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