Meeting of the Parliament 16 March 2016
I thank Johann Lamont for setting out the rationale behind amendment 100. As Dr McLeod said to Ms Lamont when she lodged a similar amendment at stage 2, the Scottish Government supports all types of land tenure and, of course, supports ownership of land by community benefit societies as well as other land ownership vehicles. We have clearly demonstrated that in taking forward the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, which expanded the structures that community bodies can use under the community right to buy to include community benefit societies as well as Scottish charitable incorporated organisations. However, we believe that community bodies should have the flexibility to decide for themselves how they should be constituted, depending on their needs and aspirations, and we would therefore to be reluctant to support any amendment that could be interpreted as favouring one particular land ownership mechanism over another.
It is not appropriate to amend section 7 in that way. As far as possible, we want the land commissioners to have operational independence and freedom to determine their programme of work, and we do not consider it appropriate to constrain them in that manner or to prejudge their work. We note that amendment 100 would mean that the land commissioners had to include such recommendations in every programme of work that they produced.
We consider that Johann Lamont’s amendment would alter the land commissioners’ programme of work in a way that is unnecessary given the excellent work that is being taken forward by the 1 million acres strategic implementation group. We have recently funded a development officer post with Community Land Scotland to enable it to build capacity and to support it in promoting community ownership and sharing best practice.
We thank Jim Hume for explaining the rationale behind amendments 23 and 24. They have similar aims to amendments that were lodged and then withdrawn at stage 2. Following stage 2, Dr McLeod wrote to Mr Hume to set out why such amendments are not needed. For the record, I will set that out again today. Our intention is that the public appointments process will be regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland. The commissioner publishes a code of practice for ministerial appointments to public bodies in Scotland and, as a matter of policy, the code of practice will mean that no member of the commission will serve for more than eight years. To ensure that there is the necessary flexibility to deal with exceptional circumstances, however, the provisions of the code can be varied with the commissioner’s agreement.
At stage 2 on 20 January, the minister confirmed that our policy intention is that the Parliament should also approve any reappointment of a member of the commission, and she was happy to support Alex Fergusson’s amendment that clarified that in the bill. I also stress that, under sections 8(2) and 8(5A), the Parliament will be required to scrutinise and approve both appointments and reappointments of members of the commission. If the Parliament had a concern about a reappointment and believed that the balance between continuity and fresh blood on the commission was not being correctly struck, it would be able to make that concern heard during the appointment process. Given Jim Hume’s comments, I also emphasise that section 8(3) provides for a maximum period of five years.
We have stated our intention that the code of practice of the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life will apply as a matter of policy. In addition, there is an order-making power under section 3(3) of the Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc (Scotland) Act 2003 that could be used to add the Scottish land commission to schedule 2 to that act. The reason why that is not expressly done in the bill is the deliberate policy choice to give the Parliament a prominent role in the public appointments process.
We also thank Jim Hume for explaining amendment 101. The list of experience and expertise in section 9(1)(a) has grown throughout the bill process, but I emphasise to the Parliament again that it will not prevent ministers from considering whether candidates for the land commission have other relevant experience or expertise. We understand the sentiment behind amendment 101, and I assure Mr Hume that our intention in the public appointments process is to select the best candidates to serve on the land commission. However, a balance has to be struck between getting the right people who tick every box and appointing them within a reasonable timescale to do the work that is required to progress land reform.
It was after listening carefully to stakeholders’ views that Dr McLeod lodged an amendment at stage 2 to add “land management” to section 9(1)(a). We do not believe that the addition of “practical” would add anything to that term, so we do not support amendment 101.
We thank Claudia Beamish for lodging amendments 25 and 26, which we are happy to support. I take Ms Beamish’s point and I am glad that she has now had an amendment accepted. We consider that those amendments supplement the list in section 9(1)(a) in a manner that mirrors the package of amendments that the Scottish Government lodged at stages 2 and 3 to strengthen the bill in respect of
“human rights ... equal opportunities”
and
“the reduction of inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage”,
as Claudia Beamish mentioned in her remarks.
Given the Scottish Government’s commitment to the importance of the Gaelic language and Gaelic culture to Scotland, Dr McLeod welcomed Angus MacDonald’s amendment at stage 2 and we are happy to accept what we believe is a helpful revision.
On amendment 27, we thank Johann Lamont for querying at stage 2 the inclusion of local authority workers in section 10(1), which sets out a list of persons who may not be appointed as a member of the Scottish land commission if they have been in certain offices in the previous 12 months. Following stage 2, Dr McLeod reflected further on the list and wrote to Ms Lamont to advise her that ministers intended to remove the exclusion in respect of local authority workers because, as she highlighted, it can be the case in remote and rural communities in Scotland that many people are reliant on local authority employment.
I add for the record that the land commission’s work will be relevant to urban as well as rural communities the length and breadth of Scotland, and we would not wish to exclude local authority employees in our urban communities from applying to be a member of the commission either.
Amendment 28 is a consequential amendment to ensure that repairing tenancies created under section 5C of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003, as inserted by section 79B of the bill at stage 2, are caught in the definition of “relevant tenancy” in section 10(3). That will ensure that any tenant or landlord of a repairing tenancy is excluded from being appointed as the tenant farming commissioner, as is already the case for the other types of agricultural tenancy.
We thank Jim Hume for setting out the intention behind amendment 102. However, we cannot support the amendment. Section 16(2) permits the commission to regulate its own procedures and those of its committees, including the quorum of any meeting, and section 15(6) requires a committee to comply with any directions that are given to it by the commission. Those are important provisions, as they give the commission the freedom and flexibility to set up its own internal working procedures, including on issues such as voting rights, but they also ensure that the commission has ultimate control of its committees. Given the operational independence that the Scottish ministers wish the commission to have, it would not be appropriate to make that amendment in isolation.
We welcome amendments 3 and 4, lodged by Mr Dey, to section 20. The Scottish Government considers that it is imperative that the land commissioners can give full consideration to the land use strategy in exercising their functions. However, we are pleased to hear that it is not Graeme Dey’s intention to alter the Scottish ministers’ duties under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, so we support the amendments for providing that clarity.