Crofters Back Call for Fairer Appeals System

Proposals put forward by NFUS for a shake-up of the subsidy appeals system received support from the Scottish Crofting Foundation today. SCF Director Hugh Donaldson said "We fully support the NFUS call for an overhaul of the penalties and appeals system. Like them, we also frequently find members having support withheld for simple clerical errors, made in entirely good faith. In some cases, losses are substantial, having a huge impact on the income of the household. Penalties are often disproportionate to the 'crime' – forgetting to put a tick in the correct box or mistakenly turning animals out in a field one day early.