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Meeting of the Parliament 05 June 2013

05 Jun 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Land Reform

Baker, Claire Lab Mid Scotland and Fife Watch on SPTV

I am pleased to open this debate on land reform, which has been brought forward by Scottish Labour.

Under devolution, a Labour-led Executive introduced the first truly reforming land legislation in Scotland. Public access, national parks, farming tenancies, the crofting right to buy and the extension of rights to community ownership were covered. The aims behind the policies were to modernise land laws, encourage the diversification of ownership and create opportunities. The Scottish Parliament supported those aims, and I would like the Parliament to regain those ambitions.

Scottish Labour is prepared to listen to radical and innovative solutions and to progress policies that will make a difference and move forward the land reform agenda. We know that 432 individuals own half the land and that a mere 16 people own 10 per cent of Scotland. Some might argue, “What is wrong with that? Why should we be concerned about ownership, when what matters is what happens on the land?” However, the two aspects are inextricably linked. We cannot create a more socially just Scotland without tackling land ownership. In our aim to create a fairer use of land that provides more opportunities for more people and in which public subsidy is used for the greatest possible public benefit, we will support bold solutions with the aim of promoting greater equality and ownership, as we recognise the economic and social benefits that that can bring.

The Scottish Government launched the land reform review group with a wide remit, which was to

“Generate, support, promote, and deliver new relationships between land, people, economy and environment in Scotland”.

That suggested that the Scottish Government shared that ambition. When the First Minister announced the LRRG’s establishment in July last year, he said:

“I want this review to deliver radical change for both rural and urban areas, developing new ideas which will improve current legislation as well as generating even more innovative proposals.”

We support the establishment of an expert group. Delivering on land reform will never be easy. The experience with the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, elements of which are still being challenged, shows that that is often not an easy path for politicians to tread. It generates strong emotions and challenges vested interests. An expert independent group can provide expertise and knowledge to make recommendations and push the agenda forward.

However, the interim report has been met largely with disappointment and criticism from land reformists because of the group’s lack of expertise in many key areas, the decision that it took to narrow the remit and the dearth of radical proposals or options for further development. Community Land Scotland welcomed aspects of the report, but it had significant concerns about the direction of travel. For example, it said:

“We have concerns that the interim report’s description of more people having a ‘stake’ in the land is limited almost exclusively to communities having a greater say in land use, not the economic ‘stake’ in the land we think is vital in developing more resilient and sustainable communities.”

Yesterday, there was a powerful statement from Professor Jim Hunter, who was an original member of the LRRG. He said:

“If the Scottish Government are serious about land reform, Ministers and the government machine more generally must be involved directly in the work of the group ... As it is, we’re now six years into an SNP Government which has so far done absolutely nothing legislatively about the fact that Scotland continues to be stuck with the most concentrated, most inequitable, most unreformed and most undemocratic land ownership system in the entire developed world.”

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Meeting of the Parliament 05 June 2013

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