Scottish Red Tape Report

Seventy-two recommendations have been made in a report looking at ways of reducing the bureaucratic burden on Scottish agriculture.  The ‘Doing Better Initiative’ was published by a group led by Brian Pack on the 6^th December.  It is a hugely comprehensive look at the red-tape burden faced by farmers and runs to over 170 pages.  The group has been working on the report since it was commissioned by the Scottish Government back in January 2012 (see Bulletin 01(12)).  The report is titled as ‘interim’ with a full submission expected next June.

With such a detailed and wide-ranging report it is difficult to summarise.  The full document can be found at – http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0043/00439653.pdf.  There are a number of specific recommendations to try and make the process of regulation easier.  However, the report tacitly acknowledges that, with much of the legislation flowing from Brussels and to a lesser extent Whitehall, there is not a great deal the Holyrood administration can do in many areas.  Even its scope for ‘interpretation’ of the rules is limited by the need to comply with EU audits.  One of the main recommendations of the reports is a better communication and transparency from regulators, and a better understanding of why and how things are done on the part of the regulated.  This would help remove some of the frustration felt by the farming sector. 

As the Macdonald red-tape report has shown in England, identifying the problem is the easy bit. Even suggesting solutions is often not too hard.  It is actually making anything change in practice that is difficult.