EIR/202500491581 · FOI/EIR · not held
Future Farm Investment Scheme administration and application information: EIR release
Information requested
I wish to receive the following information regarding the scheme under the The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, regarding the administration and application of the £21.4million grant scheme for Future Farm Investment
The exact number of application in receipt of the grant. Clear details of which ranking were successful. Clear details of which rankings were unsuccessful. Average age of grant recipient (mean). Average farm size of grant recipient (mean).
Assessment competency
Detailed outline of all training and CPD provision attended by administers of this fund, in relations to assessment and distribution of this grant.
Conflict of Interests
Detailed outline of your conflict of interest policy. Redacted information regarding conflict of interest concerns raised.
Response
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
Response to your request
The exact number of application in receipt of the grant
1,672 farmers and crofters were offered a grant on 31 October 2025
Clear details of which ranking were successful.
Grant offers were determined by a combination of assessment of application eligibility, Ministerial priority grouping and the relative strength of each proposed investment in delivering the scheme’s objectives, ensuring that funding was directed towards capital investments offering the greatest overall benefit.
Being in the Ministerial priority group alone did not guarantee funding, the capital investment applied for would have to be eligible for support and deliver strongly against the scheme’s objectives.
Details of how applications were assessed is provided at Future Farm Investment Scheme full guidance Future Farm Investment Scheme full guidance.
Clear details of which rankings were unsuccessful.
Grant offers were determined by a combination of assessment of eligibility, the priority grouping and the relative strength of each proposed investment in delivering the scheme’s objectives, ensuring that funding was directed towards capital investments offering the greatest overall benefit. Details of how applications were assessed is provided at Future Farm Investment Scheme full guidance.
Applications varied widely in quality, accuracy, and alignment with the scheme’s objectives. The verification of applications identified several recurring issues that directly affected eligibility and grant award outcomes.
Verification checks identified inconsistencies between application data and RPID records. While these did not necessarily indicate intent to mislead, they reinforced the importance of accurate declarations to ensure that funding decisions were fair, evidence-based, and compliant with public finance requirements.
These cross-checks showed that a number of applications contained information that did not correspond with data already held on RPID systems. As a result, these applications did not progress further in the process. The published guidance was clear that:
“Knowingly or recklessly making a false statement to obtain payment of aid to yourself or anyone else risks prosecution. You also risk the loss of all the aid which you have claimed and may be prevented from claiming or applying for future aid schemes including BPS, LFASS and VCS.”
Addressing these cases before offers were made safeguarded applicants from financial penalty and recovery risks for inaccurate applications.
Average age of grant recipient (mean).
As applicants were not asked to provide this detail on their application, we do not hold this information in relation to the FFIS.
Average farm size of grant recipient (mean).
As applicants were not asked to provide this detail on their application We do not hold this information in relation to the FFIS
ministerial prioritisation number of successful applications number of unsuccessful applications number of successful applications per geographical location number of unsuccessful applications per geographical location percentage of fund allocated to the following total value of this % in £ new entrants 110 1,091 provided in separate table 3.95% £908,781.23 young farmers 269 1,345 13.37% £3,075,459.63 small agricultural businesses 157 1,475 3.36% £772,074.03 tenants 326 2,316 16.95% £3,898,628.04 island based agricultural businesses 180 1,315 7.67% £1,764,180.08 crofters 122 1,272 4.09% £941,477.48 investments in electronic identification (EID) equipment 522 2,467 29.36% £6,755,109.56 investments in water efficiency 362 1,439 21.25% £4,888,429.14
Area Office New Entrant Young Farmer Small Agricultural Business Tenanted Location Island Based Business Organically Registered Business Ayr 17 55 16 31 17 7 Benbecula 9 8 9 12 14 1 Dumfries 5 27 5 42 0 0 Elgin 4 5 4 26 0 1 Galashiels 5 27 9 29 0 13 Golspie 1 2 1 3 0 0 Hamilton 7 21 10 9 0 5 Inverness 8 8 10 24 2 1 Inverurie 12 30 31 48 0 8 Kirkwall 11 21 9 4 62 2 Lerwick 12 19 12 42 59 1 Oban 5 9 10 13 16 1 Perth 12 29 11 30 0 4 Portree 0 3 3 5 6 0 Stornoway 0 1 1 4 4 0 Thurso 3 6 5 8 0 2 Total 111 271 146 330 180
farm/croft size number of successful applications number of unsuccessful applications number of successful applications per geographical location number of unsuccessful applications per geographical location percentage of fund allocated to the following total value to this % in £ 30 hectares of less 143 1,302 provided in separate table 2.88% £615,763.03 between 30.01 150 hectares 660 2,134 27.29% £5,836,438.11 greater than 150 hectares 869 2,474 69.84% £14,938,350.0
Area Office Number Successful Small (<30ha) Number Successful Medium (>30ha/<150ha) Number Successful Large (>150ha) Area Office Number Unsuccessful Small (<30ha) Number Unsuccessful Medium (>30ha/<150ha) Number Unsuccessful Large (>150ha) Ayr 16 119 133 Ayr 89 295 288 Benbecula 9 3 2 Benbecula 107 58 8 Dumfries 5 67 96 Dumfries 52 172 220 Elgin 4 30 26 Elgin 23 63 76 Galashiels 9 37 123 Galashiels 62 140 406 Golspie 1 5 6 Golspie 65 42 28 Hamilton 10 38 48 Hamilton 38 101 102 Inverness 9 20 35 Inverness 140 117 165 Inverurie 30 150 138 Inverurie 163 349 308 Kirkwall 9 24 29 Kirkwall 44 146 78 Lerwick 12 27 20 Lerwick 50 71 58 Oban 9 21 29 Oban 54 120 177 Perth 11 96 145 Perth 91 281 455 Portree 3 0 3 Portree 106 36 32 Stornoway 1 1 2 Stornoway 136 35 4 Thurso 5 22 34 Thurso 82 108 69 Total 143 660 869 1302 2134 2474
Assessment competency
Detailed outline of all training and CPD provision attended by administers of this fund, in relations to assessment and distribution of this grant.
No additional training was provided as assessments were carried out by trained staff.
Conflict of Interests
Detailed outline of your conflict of interest policy. Can be found on the Scottish Government website: Civil Service Code - gov.scot Redacted information regarding conflict of interest concerns raised. No concerns were raised
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes.
Attachments
No attachments found.