9.5% Modulation for Scotland

Scotland’s Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead confirmed this month (18th December) that the transfer of funds from direct payments to rural development would be set at 9.5%. This will deliver a Rural Development budget of £1.3 billion over the next 7 years and apparently represents a similar level of funding to what has been seen over the last years of the current funding period. This is a lower level than most people were expecting and will put pressure on DEFRA to consider a lower modulation rate than their preferred maximum 15%. The NFU has been campaining very hard for 9%.