Meeting of the Parliament 16 March 2016
I appreciate that intervention from Rob Gibson, and I think that he would also appreciate that, whoever is in Government, it is always best to get the amendments and the bill right at the beginning. We had a 139-page amended bill today, with 43 pages of amendments. Legislate in haste; repent at leisure. Who knows whether we could have made it a more ambitious piece of legislation if we had not left it until the dying days of the parliamentary session?
The Government came late in this parliamentary session to land reform, but I appreciate where we are now and look forward to the bill progressing and to land reform being scrutinised in the future.
Time will not allow me to tackle all the issues that have arisen from the bill and that will arise from the bill. My views are on the record of many a Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee meeting. There were four committee meetings at stage 2 of the bill, of which I believe one sat for a record length of time. I shall note a few issues, however.
Waygo has long been a concern and I believe that we have a more fit-for-purpose waygo system in this bill, which I believe and hope will put the negotiation position of the tenant back to a better situation for them. Before this bill I was vocally concerned about the lack of trust that there is in the letting of land, and about how I believe that has led to land not being let through fear of losing ownership of the land.
I know that more farms are being farmed in hand daily and I fear that the bill may not address that issue properly. We need a clarion call from this Parliament and the next Parliament that Scotland is open for business and that it is safe to let land.
We all talk about getting young or new entrants into the use of land, whether for farming or other uses. I believe that sabre rattling by some MSPs has perhaps done nothing more than accentuate that problem, albeit it may have helped their profiles in their local media. However, that is hardly what we are here for.
At stages 2 and 3 of this bill I have been at pains to ensure that the tenant farming commissioner should be someone with practical experience, who knows the ground and the many ways of working land, so that they can best judge this land reform bill in its progress. At the same time I sought assurances that there would be a fixed term for the commissioner.
We heard from the minister that the fixed term would be a maximum of eight years. I appreciate the Government informing me of that at stage 3. It is unfortunate that we did not get that reassurance at stage 2, but I appreciate where we are today. I think that that is the correct way forward and I shall, of course, continue to monitor the suitability of the tenant farming commissioner as to their role in land reform as we move forward.
I have been on the RACCE Committee for five years and I must congratulate my fellow MSPs. We have all got on fairly well. Of course we did not always agree, but that is what debates are about. We mainly came to consensus. Three of the members of that committee are standing down and we have heard from them today. I would like to pay a special tribute to Alex Fergusson, Rob Gibson, and even Dave Thompson, thank them for some interesting times on the RACCE Committee and wish them well in whatever they do in the future.
The bill has raised many issues: deer management, agricultural tenancies, a welcome extension of land reform to the urban setting and the establishment of a tenant farming commission. I look forward to supporting the bill at decision time, and hope that its rushed nature does not lead to any unintended consequences. I look forward to land reform in the next session of Parliament and see a positive future for our agriculture, tenants and land businesses.
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