Meeting of the Parliament 26 March 2025
I thank Douglas Lumsden for raising that point. I listened very carefully to the evidence that the committee received and to those concerns. There was broad support for a range of the proposed measures, but I want to ensure that the bill is as strong as possible, which is why I welcome the recommendations that the committee made in its stage 1 report. I look forward to working with Douglas Lumsden and others across the chamber as we look to strengthen the bill’s provisions.
Our land reform journey goes to the heart of the debate about the kind of Scotland that we want—a fairer society and a land of opportunity. Land and tenancy reforms are not new. From hard-won rights in the early crofting acts to more recent reforms, people and communities have always been at the heart of the need for land reform.
The Agriculture (Scotland) Act 1948 reformed agricultural tenancies to provide tenants with security of tenure, thereby enabling them to invest in and improve their farms for increased productivity and ensuring food security during a critical period. In the same way, the proposals in part 2 of the bill will enable our tenant farmers to access support, deliver climate and biodiversity goals and provide sustainable food production, thereby ensuring a prosperous future for tenant farming families. All those reforms were controversial at the time, but they were the right thing to do. Then, as now, the reforms were about people, fairness and dignity.
Previous land reforms have improved the lives of ordinary Scots, just as our proposals will. There were early changes, such as the abolition of the feudal system, and the Labour and Liberal Democrat Executive introduced the landmark right to roam and community rights to buy. There have also been more recent improvements, such as the introduction of assignation and relinquishment reforms for retiring tenant farmers and compulsory community rights to buy.
The establishment of the Scottish Land Commission in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 by one of my predecessors, Richard Lochhead, was another milestone, ensuring that we have a continuing focus on land reform. The Land Commission has made a significant contribution, developing policy and driving positive change on the ground, and the tenant farming commissioner has been instrumental in improving relationships between tenants and landlords.
It is easy to take for granted the rights that we have in Scotland. Assets amounting to more than 200,000 hectares—or 2.7 per cent of the total area of Scotland—are in community ownership, and we have seen tenant farmers using their pre-emptive right to buy their farms, creating opportunities for their families to invest and develop their businesses.
People across Scotland are able to benefit from responsible public access to Scotland’s land. In England, the public have access to only about 8 per cent of the country and have no community right to buy. Things are better in Scotland, and we should be proud of our land reform successes.