Meeting of the Parliament 16 December 2015
The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill has generated a huge debate across Scotland about the very land that we stand on. The RACCE Committee’s extensive programme of engagement ensured that the report that we are debating today was informed by as many views and experiences as possible. The huge response to that engagement is testament to how much the bill means to so many people.
The committee received 200 written submissions, held formal external meetings in Orkney, Skye and Dumfries and travelled to Islay, Jura, the Borders and Fife to hold public meetings to hear people’s views. Following that wide consultation, we have produced a constructive report that clearly sets out how to ensure that the bill fulfils its radical potential in practice. Supportive comments included those of Dr Calum Macleod at the University of Edinburgh, who wrote that the committee’s scrutiny and report
“have provided a valuable public service in anchoring the Bill to land reform as ‘the art of the possible’.”
The bill is bold in its ambition and must be made clear in its detail. We share the Government’s vision for land reform in Scotland and support many of the measures in the bill and the principles behind them, but the bill needs to be strengthened and clarified to fully deliver the ambitious and radical change that many people want.
Before I go into details, I ask members to note that Alex Fergusson dissented from our conclusions on part 10, relating to agricultural holdings, and on some specific issues in part 5, on a new community right to buy, and that Jim Hume dissented from our conclusions on a right to buy for 1991 act tenants. Those members will no doubt speak for themselves.
Many parts of the bill have our full support, subject to recommended improvements, including part 1 on the establishment of a land rights and responsibilities statement and part 2 on the establishment of a Scottish land commission. Those are the most radical departures from previous land reform bills.
A land rights and responsibilities statement must focus on land as a national asset for the benefit of all Scotland’s people. It must underpin the process by clearly setting out a fundamental vision for land reform that is rooted in international human rights obligations. The statement will underpin the land commission’s work on guiding Scotland forward on the land reform journey, year by year. However, the bill must be amended to ensure that the statement and the commission’s strategic plan and work programme are debated in and endorsed by this Parliament.
We want at least one of the commissioners to be a Gaelic speaker, as is the case with organisations such as the Crofting Commission and the Scottish Land Court.
We strongly support in principle, subject to recommended amendments, those parts of the bill on engaging with communities and giving them a right to buy land to further sustainable development.
To improve engagement between communities and landowners, which the bill seeks to do in part 4, much more than guidance is required. Local people need to know who a person of significant control on behalf of landowners is. In addition, the consequences of non-adherence to the guidance must be spelled out.
Part 5 will introduce a right to buy to further sustainable development, but the Government must clarify whether that is intended to empower communities or to deter landowners. The proposed tests for communities are set at such a high level that amendments are needed to sections, such as section 47, to replace “the only practicable way” with “the only or most practicable way”. In addition, the definition of harm must be broadened to include potential impacts on the community’s sustainable development objectives.
All committee members agreed that access to information is essential.