 Felly gweld bod nhw'n fawr i'r ddatawb o ddigon o'i gystafellau. Mae'n r разig hwnnw yw'r s mockwyr yw eu ddigon o ddigon o'i ddigonio gyda i'r losluÏn, a oedd yn oeddynt yn ddigonio'i ddigonio i'r dramafyrrau. Felly gydag oeslwn i'n gysylltu, rydw i nhw'n fforddau yn rwyf o naddwyd y ddigonio ar gwaseldol. Be gydag o'i ddigonio'r Gawd Cymru sy'n gwybodon i'r ddigonio a b이라zyddiaeth i ddain i ddweud y rwymp additionnidol a syr とegw刻 i fyw cael ei osion, mae'n cyfle i wych ddimawr i niferref edrych yn 5 mlynedd, y cyfunisiau cyweld rai cwmian, cynnyddwch yn gweithio eu cwmian a gwithio a'i profi ddwygrau cy cryingwyllfa o'r cyffredinol sydd yn ei wneud yn ei wneud yn 437, ac yn cael ei bwysig o'i cyfweldio eich online cael ei cyffredinol ym lŷ, darlod oedd yn lluffio'u cyffredinol. Yn oes i'r rai newid, rwy'n gweithio'r ble fwyio'r cyffredinol o'i gwybraeth Felly, we have fixed many of those and are working hard to address the remaining ones quickly. However, it is worth noting that the system has been available 97 per cent of the time. The online service has major benefits in helping farmers to avoid errors and penalties with its built-in checks and validation. I would therefore encourage all farmers to register and use the service. Sarah Boyack I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer and agree that the system is hugely important and welcome the intentions behind the system. I understand that the online process has been painstakingly slow and deeply frustrating for those attempting to use it and that there are particular problems for farmers with dyslexia given the complexity of the process. It was reported on Friday that 150 out of unexpected 22,000 farmers and crofters had started the process online. As the system is crucial for cap payments, it is fundamental that it is fixed, but it appears to be a shambles at the moment. Given the concerns that have been raised by the NFUS cabinet secretary, when will the system be fixed and what would be the implications if the Scottish Government were to take up Commissioner Hogan's offer for member states to extend the SAF deadline? Cabinet secretary. Thank you. I just say that, of course, the system has only been open the online system for one week and one day and given the complexity of the new policy, we were always aware that the first week of the new system, perhaps even the first two weeks of the new system would throw up some issues that would have to be ironed out. The number of farmers who complete the forms online is always very low in the first few weeks of the window being opened and, of course, they have until May 15. We are addressing all these issues as a rise. I think that it is completely unfair and unreasonable to say it is a shambles. That simply talks us into a place that I do not think any of us want to be in and will sow seeds of uncertainty across the industry. We recognise that there are issues that have to be ironed out, but we ask members to keep their comments measured because we want people to have confidence that they can apply for vital payments under the new policy. I would point out that, unlike elsewhere on the islands in Scotland, people can apply using paper or online and they have that option. In terms of people who are having difficulties or challenges, they can visit the local area office and get assistance for completing either online or using paper. There is a variety of support available across the country to help farmers and crofters to complete those forms, and I urge all farmers to take advantage of the support that is available. In terms of farmers who may have dyslexia, I think that that was mentioned in Sarah Boyack's question. Again, I urge anyone who has such challenges to visit their area office with one of the officials and get advice on how to use online the system or complete a paper copy. That assistance is available for people to use. In terms of the question of extending the SAF, that is a single application form deadline, beyond 15 May for one further month, as Commissioner Hogan last week said is an option that member states can voluntarily take up if they so wish. We are considering what the consequences would be of taking up that offer. We are not ruling it out, but we recognise that, if we extend the deadline of applications by one month, it cuts the amount of time that we have for inspections before we make payments by one month as well. Of course, we have to discuss the stakeholders and the consequences of doing that, given that the farmers and crofters are saying to me that what is really important is to get the payments out as quickly as possible once the window for that opens in December. Please rest assured that we are treating these matters very seriously. I thank the seriousness of which the cabinet secretary has addressed the issue that I have raised. I totally agree that we do not want to exacerbate the problem, but could the cabinet secretary just clarify when the technical problems with the online process will be fixed and people can have confidence in the system? It is a very important issue because I am not doubting for one second that it will be extremely frustrating for those who have gone online during the few occasions where the system has been down. The fixes have been put in place quickly. There are some remaining. For instance, the industry asked for a printing facility, so once they have populated the data on their forms, they can print out and perhaps keep a copy to refer to in paper format. We are hopefully introducing that facility within a few days at the request of the industry. As I reiterated, this is a very complex system and the fact that we now have a functioning online system available brings additional benefits to completing it on paper. In other words, the validation process online flags up problems to the applicant immediately, which they can then fix online, unlike with the paper copies. That avoids penalties and avoids future problems further down the road. That is a very important dynamic in the online system that we have invested in. We will continue to take these issues seriously and we will make sure that any other issues that do arise are as fixed as quickly as possible. Alex Ferguson. I have been listening very carefully to what the cabinet secretary said. I understand his desire to keep the language measured here, but we are talking here of a system that an increasing number of agents, people who are well versed in filling in these forms online and on paper, are calling not fit for purpose. An agent who is used to completing these forms tells me that the SAF system crashed on him 14 times on day three, but seven times yesterday as well. He finally completed a simple online form for a small farming business this morning and he was given an application receipt number of 53. Does that mean that, at this point in time, only 53 farming businesses have completed the process? As has already been said, DEFRA have extended the deadlines for submissions, but they have also issued pre-populated information paper forms to every farmer to ensure that European deadlines are met. Can I ask the cabinet secretary whether the Scottish Government will be prepared to do the same if necessary and if not, what is its alternative plan B if it has one? If it has one, which I hope it has, when is the cut-off point that that plan B will have to be put into action? We do have contingency plans in Scotland. Indeed, that was referred to with the coverage of what has happened with the English system in the last few days where it was pointed out that, unlike in England, Scotland does have contingency plans and, of course, that involves paper copies of the single application form if required, but, of course, they are already available for specific requests if any farmer wants to use paper. They can do that at the moment they do not have to apply online. I do not doubt for a second the frustrations caused by those occasions where the system has been shut down over the first week of it being set up. What I am saying to the chamber is that every effort has been made to fix any issues that come to retention as quickly as possible. Many of them have been fixed already. Indeed, one agent, Ian Hope, at CKD Galbraith's Perth office said, I have not completed a full SAF yet, but I have been filling in full data sheets and it seems to be working okay. I would rather be working online than on paper if we have to go back to paper as they have in England. It will just increase the scope for errors because there will be no automatic checks. Now that we are online, I will keep the momentum going. I know there are other agents because, believe me, I have heard them and communicated to me over the past few days and I do appreciate the frustrations. I hope that this time next week we will be in an even better place than where we are today. In terms of those that have completed their forms, it is fair to say that 50-odd farmers have fully completed their forms. Another 500-odd plus are partially completed their forms because many of them want to wait before they finally submit their online application. As I said also before, in the first couple of weeks, as is always the case every year, there is a slow uptake of people filling in their single application forms online and then it gets faster as the deadline gets closer. We will certainly monitor that very, very closely. In terms of some of the wider issues, we are also monitoring them very, very closely as well and will take appropriate action as and when required. The cabinet secretary has referred to the various options available to farmers who will be aware that in the constituency that I represent, access to broadband is far from universal and indeed many of the farmers are based out in some of the smaller islands and therefore even accessing the area of office presents a logistical challenge. I welcome any comments you have about the specific support that may be available to them. Much has been made of the IT problems surrounding SAF, and I am getting the feedback from my constituents that the complexity of SAF is also a major problem. The cabinet secretary has pointed to the need to get this right but to ensure that payments get out in a timely fashion. Would it not be prudent in this first year to make sure that if we have only got 53 out of some 22,000 through the system already, that it looks pretty much inevitable that we are going to have to delay a month and get people prepared for that sooner rather than later? Cabinet secretary. As I said, because of the complexity of the new policy and one reason why there are complexities in the IT system is of course because the overall policy is complex and every single member state has made strong representations to the new commissioner to simplify the new common agricultural policy because all member states, all administrations are finding it pretty challenging to implement the new policy. Notwithstanding that though we do have a system up and running in Scotland and many people are using it and I am confident that more people will use it as the weeks go by. However we will give serious consideration to extending the deadline by a month but as I said in my previous response there are other consequences we just have to take into account we are currently discussing them with the industry, with the stakeholders because we do not want to be in a position in a few months time where we are getting complaints about payments being delayed because we delayed the deadline for the single application forms so we just have to balance up all these considerations but we are giving it serious thought. John Scott Thank you Presiding Officer and declaring an interest as a farmer. The Cabinet Secretary will be aware of the frustration in the farming industry about the apparent lack of functionality in the new £100 million rural payments and services computer system. You will also be aware of the industry concerns about this problem as farmers are required to lodge their application form before the 15th of May less than two months away and 99 per cent of applicants have yet to use this new system at what is, for many, their most stressful time of year. Given the reported willingness of Commissioner Hogan to accept late applications, can the Cabinet Secretary tell Parliament how and if such delays will affect the timing of payments this year should he need to take up Commissioner Hogan's offer to accept late applications? The complexity of the new policy that we are implementing in Scotland and, although a lot of the complexity has emanated from Europe, we did introduce some of our own after discussions with the industry to make sure that the policy was appropriate for Scotland's diverse circumstances. That means that we have to be very careful about how we move forward and make sure that the payments can be out in time if that is at all possible because we always said to the industry that this is a complex policy, it will be challenging to implement in Scotland with some of the decisions that we have taken and that could have potential implications for the payments and the industry's message back was we don't mind the payments being a bit later if we get the right policy in the first place. However, at the moment, we are still scheduling issuing the payments on time in December, but if the extension for submitting the claims in the first place is extended by a month, clearly that gives us less time to carry out the inspections that have to be carried out before payments are actually made in December. We have to balance up those challenges that we are doing at the moment. We are also discussing with the commission if there will be more leeway over the inspections and the penalty regime as a result of extending the deadline for applications by a month, so that's where the discussions are at the moment. I take seriously many of the concerns that are expressed by members. I am receiving daily reports from the IT team and the wider cap implementation team to make sure that we can fix any issues that come up as quickly as possible and we get the new policy implementing in Scotland as smooth as possible to farm businesses across Scotland as soon as possible thereafter. That ends topical questions. The next item of business is a debate on motion number 12763 in the name of Humza Yousaf.