AN MSP has slammed the Government after the personal details of around 2,000 farmers were accidentally leaked.

South of Scotland MSP Rachael Hamilton (Cons), was made aware of the data breach following a recent meeting with the National Farmers Union Scotland.

The Scottish Government confirmed the leak in a letter, revealing that the personal details of around 2,000 Beef Efficiency Scheme applicants were accidentally distributed.

The letter described it as an ‘administrative error in which email addresses were copied into the wrong field and were visible for all to see’.

It is not yet known exactly how many Borders farmers are involved.
Government officials are preparing a report that will outline the breach, the impact of it and mitigation measures taken. 

It is the latest in a series of controversies involving the farming industry. The Scottish Government recently revealed that it had overpaid CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) payments to a series of businesses because staff miscalculated the Euro-to-pound conversion.

This means farmers will have to pay back nearly a quarter of a million pounds over the next month. 

This overpayment of came after major delays in CAP payments to farmers across Scotland.

In December 2015, the then Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead said all farmers should receive their first instalment in March and the balance in April.

The deadline for payments was subsequently extended from June 30 to October 15, 2016, by the European Commission. However, 59 farmers were still to receive full payment by mid-October last year.

In addition, the CAP IT system was 158 per cent over budget, with the overall business case costing £178 million. The original business case estimated IT delivery costs of £50 million.

Ms Hamilton said: "Scottish farmers deserve more than having their email addresses exposed to others involved in the Beef Efficiency Scheme. Scottish farmers deserve more than having to wait months and months for urgent CAP payments.

"Scottish farmers and the Scottish tax payers deserve more than paying for 158 per cent over budget for a £178 million IT system that should have only cost £50 million.

“In the South of Scotland farmers are crying out for competence. The continual mistakes are endemic of an SNP administration that doesn’t value rural life. Those in the agricultural sector deserve better.”

John Lamont MSP added: “The SNP seems incapable of getting anything right when it comes to getting payments to farmers. We’re now approaching a full year of disruption for Scottish farmers and there are few signs that things are going to go well [this] year.

“Unfortunately this latest news is yet further evidence of the SNP taking its eye off the ball as it obsesses about a second independence referendum.

"Farmers in the Borders have had a terrible year with much needed funding arriving months late and they rightly want the Scottish Government to focus on the day job.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "An administrative error occurred when Beef Efficiency Scheme (BES) applicants were contacted last month about tissue tagging.

"The privacy of customers is taken very seriously and an apology has been issued to all applicants affected. We have also followed information governance protocols.

"Steps have been taken to rectify the cause of this error, which is not related to the IT system, to prevent this happening again."