Scots could face research cuts

16 July 1999

Scots could face research cuts

PARLIAMENTARY independence for Scotland could mean less funding for research, warns SACs David Cranstoun.

He fears the new parliament will ring fence levy-funding north of the border, leaving cereal growers with less local data to draw on.

"The actuality is that Scottish growers would suffer from such a policy and we need to flag that up before the momentum [of independence] becomes unstoppable," he says.

Over the next three years the HGCA has £14.6m allocated to research projects across the UK. Of that, 32% is for work in Scotland, yet only 10% of levy income comes from that country, says HGCAcereal research manager, Shona Campbell.