Hansard

For the purposes of rule 9.11 of the standing orders, I advise Parliament that Her Majesty, having been informed of the purport of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, has consented to place her prerogative and interests, in so far as they are affected by the bill, at the disposal of Parliament for the purposes of the bill.

It has been a long day legislating, but it has been a good day for Scotland. The decisions that we have taken today on the amendments, and the decision that we will hopefully take shortly, are part of the process of modernising our society and country. It has been a very good day for the land reform agenda.

Parliament will know that the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, Aileen McLeod, was in the chamber this morning during stage 3 and had hoped to be here to deliver the opening speech in this final debate on the bill. I am sure that all members noticed her suffering when she spoke. She is deeply disappointed that she cannot be here, but she is unwell. I pay tribute to the minister’s skill, determination and perseverance. I am sure that all those who have worked with her on the legislation will acknowledge her commitment and willingness to listen and to act, where possible, on what people say. The radical and ambitious bill before us is in no small measure down to her dedication, hard work and leadership. [Applause.]

I know that Dr McLeod is always happy to visit communities as part of her ministerial visits and that, when she does, she encourages people to think about what they might want from local land and amenities and what opportunities might be available to them. This morning, she was delighted to announce the new £10 million Scottish land fund, which will open for applications on 1 April. That tripling of funding will create opportunities for more communities to realise their dreams and aspirations. Communities across Scotland have been supported by the fund, which, in the past three years, has awarded more than £9 million to 52 communities across the nation—from Drummore at the bottom of the Mull of Galloway to, most recently, Gallan Head in the Outer Hebrides.

We realise that that financial support is important, but it is not the only help that local groups need to help them to realise their dreams of community ownership. The Government has set an ambitious target of 1 million acres in community ownership by 2020 and set up a short-life working group in 2015 to design a strategy to deliver the target. The group delivered its report in December last year, and ministers met members recently to hear about the recommendations and priorities that must be progressed in order for the target and the ambition to be realised. We will work with the group and others to deliver the support required for communities across Scotland. The provision of funds to assist community ownership sits alongside the radical Land Reform (Scotland) Bill that we are debating today.

The debate on reforming Scotland’s land is rooted in the very DNA of Scottish politics and our country’s national debate and, indeed, in the very DNA of my party, the Scottish National Party. I know, welcome and respect the fact that it is also very close to the heart of a number of other parties and parliamentarians across this Parliament. It is a vital part of this Government’s aspirations for a fairer, more equal and socially just Scotland and the bill that we are debating today represents a major step forward.

Land reform is an issue that is in the very soul of Scotland and, indeed, has been closely connected politically with the movement for home rule down the centuries. It has been said many times that devolution is a process not an event, and one of the most important aspects of the bill is that that is now true for land reform in Scotland.

The establishment of the Scottish land commission means that land reform will remain on the agenda—it is not going away. The bill’s provisions will be built on and the Parliament will continue to take action on this important agenda for our people, society and communities. The establishment of the commission will help to achieve one of the objectives that we set when we introduced the bill—to end the stop-start nature of land reform in this country. I hope that that will be warmly welcomed by all.

As part of the process, the bill will also establish the role and office of the tenant farming commissioner. The role demonstrates the importance and value of our proposals to tenant farmers, as well as to other groups. Once he or she is in post, the tenant farming commissioner will have a range of functions such as preparing codes of practice and guidance to tenants and landlords of agricultural holdings, which will provide benefit across the sector.

Of course, supporting our tenant farming sector is crucial and a major feature of the bill has been how we open up opportunities for new entrants, how we give those who want to retire dignified routes of exit and how we ensure that more land is available to let in Scotland so that we have people putting food on our tables and caring for our environment.

On the overall purpose of the bill, when it was introduced in June last year, we said that we wanted to change the relationship between the people of Scotland and the land that we live, work and depend on to make sure that our land delivers for our people for generations to come. Nine months on, the subject of land reform continues to provoke a high level of interest outside this Parliament as well as in the chamber and our committee rooms.

Land reform is not an academic issue. It is real and it can have a huge impact on the lives of the people of Scotland and on communities. It is about putting fairness, equality and social justice at the heart of how land is owned, managed and used. It is about giving an opportunity to community groups to come together to discuss what they want to see for the land in their local areas and to work together to deliver on that local vision.

It is about strengthening the hand of tenant farmers over the land that they have farmed for generations, and it is about shining the bright light of transparency into land deals and into who owns land and who manages land—too often, those matters have been shrouded in too much secrecy.

It is about ensuring that the people of Scotland have access to the land that they need to promote business and economic growth and to provide access to good-quality and affordable food, energy and housing. It is about ensuring that there is proper and constructive dialogue between all those who have an interest in land, whether they be landowners and landlords, community groups or tenant farmers.

The Government has worked hard to give opportunities to people and communities, to encourage and support responsible and diverse land ownership and to ensure that communities have a say in how land in their area is used. I want to see that work continue and I believe that the bill will help to encourage and embed the desire for local involvement in local land. I want land reform to be seen and accepted as an issue for people across Scotland—not just in particular areas of the country, but right across the land.

The provisions in the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill and in other recent legislation such as the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 will provide benefits for urban and rural Scotland; for north, south, east and west; for mainland and lowland; and so on. For example, on the day that the bill was introduced last year, ministers visited Carluke. The Carluke Development Trust is an example of an ambitious local community that is trying to buy the town’s old historic mill and the land around it to turn it into a community and tourist resource. Last month, ministers had the pleasure of visiting South Uist to see the hugely impressive Lochboisdale harbour development, which forms a centrepiece of the local estate.

The Government has made significant changes to the bill because we have listened and worked with others in the Parliament and beyond and because we wanted to strengthen the bill, make it more radical and deliver more. At stage 2, and at stage 3 earlier today, Parliament has agreed a range of amendments to strengthen the bill. Many of the amendments have been controversial; many of the issues around the whole land reform debate in Scotland over many years have been controversial. That is because this is a debate about power, influence and ownership and about how the land, which is our biggest natural resource, is managed, exploited and used to further the cause of our people and our quality of life and to build a sustainable economy in this country at the same time.

In introducing amendments we have sought, through consideration and consultation, to provide a balance between the various and sometimes competing interests across the range of those who are involved with land in Scotland. As someone said during the debate, good landowners and good landlords have nothing to fear but there are issues out there in Scotland that need to be addressed and which have needed to be addressed for many, many years. Parliaments have passed legislation before but quite clearly, in 2016—even after more than 100 years of improving legislation in this country—there is still a lot to do.

The creation of a land rights and responsibilities statement and the establishment of a dedicated and permanent Scottish land commission underline our commitment as a Government to land reform. The bill is bold, wide ranging and ambitious. I pay tribute again to Aileen McLeod, who has put her heart and soul into the bill.

I thank those who have helped us to get to this stage over many months and years, not least the scores of officials within the Scottish Government—including many lawyers, given the topic of legislation—who have done so much behind the scenes to work with stakeholders and members across all political parties.

I say a special thank you to the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee under its convener, Rob Gibson, who retires at the upcoming election. He has been an outstanding convener and has served Parliament, his constituents and Scotland well in his time in that role. [Applause.] The committee considered the bill and related issues with customary diligence, and members brought their considerable experience in this area to bear.

I am also grateful to the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee and the Finance Committee for their contribution to the scrutiny of the bill.

Large numbers of individuals and organisations from outside the Parliament have taken a keen interest in the bill, and many of them have made suggestions as to how we might improve it; we are grateful to them for that. The message has been that, with the bill, we have an opportunity to make a difference and that we should be radical, and I believe that we have been radical. With the changes that we have made, we have grasped that opportunity.

The bill is not the end point of Scotland’s land reform journey, but it is a vital part of a wider programme of reform across urban and rural Scotland. We cannot roll back hundreds of years of history overnight, nor can we change history, but we are introducing a range of important measures that will allow us to continue on the journey to a more equal and fairer society.

Our provisions on transparency, on placing human rights at the heart of land reform, on introducing a land rights and responsibilities statement and on establishing the Scottish land commission are radical and urgently needed, and they will bring about change. I believe that, as a result of the bill—if we pass it today—Scotland will be a better place and our society will be a better society.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees that the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill be passed.