A BBC Scotland investigation has revealed investors who do no actual farming are being paid millions in an abuse of the agricultural subsidy system.
An BBC investigative programme called The Money Farmers has unveiled the way a loophole in the system allows for investors and companies to receive government payments on inactive land.
The programme discovered that farmers receive financial support in the form of a government subsidy for every hectare of land they own; they can then sell on the right – or entitlement – to claim that subsidy.
This arrangement gives the farmer a lump sum from the purchaser of the entitlement, who can then rent land and go on to claim the government subsidy, the programme claimed.
The BBC has revealed that investors who buy these entitlements and then claim the subsidy can make profits of up to 30% a year. The BBC spoke to one property developer who said he had been paid £250,000 in public money since 2006 through the scheme.
Andy Wightman, a land reform campaigner, told the programme: “It’s a system that’s broken, a system that’s corrupt, a system that’s been abused, and public money is going to people who frankly don’t need it.”