Meeting of the Parliament 01 June 2016
I think that I dealt with that in response to Mark Ruskell’s question. I have indicated what the Government’s position is. The member is aware that the energy minister will close the debate and will pick up on more of the specific issues.
Our new land reform act seeks to transform our relationship with the land while helping to create a fairer Scotland. As the First Minister set out last week, one of the key priorities in my portfolio will be to implement the act’s key measures, including the preparation of a land rights and responsibilities statement. That must be about enshrining fairness to all parties into public policy; my aim is for that statement to underpin future land reform. I will also prioritise establishing the Scottish land commission. The aim is to appoint commissioners by the end of this year, with the land commission in operation on 1 April 2017.
This Government is committed to making land ownership more transparent and inclusive through community ownership. One of our priorities for government is to introduce a mandatory public register of landowners’ controlling interests. I can announce today that consultation on that register will begin this summer. So that we can meet the very ambitious target of 1 million acres in community ownership by 2020, we will stimulate activity by increasing the Scottish land fund from £3 million to £10 million.
Of course, wise and productive use of our land is not just a rural concern but an urban one. Too often, it is our most deprived communities and the lives of all who live there that are most blighted by vacant and derelict land and poor-quality living, working, leisure and play environments. That is why we will continue to support the central Scotland green network, Europe’s largest greenspace project. Eighty-six per cent of Scotland’s severely deprived areas are within the CSGN, which equates to more than 600,000 residents living in areas that require dedicated support.
Having outlined some of the key priorities in government in my portfolio, I am clear that I will be busy in the coming years. I hope that other members will join me in being busy. We can all agree that Scotland’s stunning natural environment is one of our most precious assets. There is more, I hope, that we can find to agree on in the lifetime of this parliamentary session on how to use our country’s natural capital wisely and productively, on how to strive for and achieve our world-leading ambitions on climate change, and on how to empower communities by reforming land ownership and management.
I could not be more proud to be Scotland’s first ever Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform. Those are issues that have long been close to my heart; indeed, I think that I was making speeches in the House of Commons in the 1990s on land reform. I see David Stewart nodding—he was probably there for some of them.
I promise to listen to all voices, ideas and views and to seek consensus where it can be found, which is, I think, in many places. However, I also promise to drive forward our priorities for government and to lead on the policies that I have outlined. This portfolio has a clear interest in Government policy on fracking, but the Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy leads on it and will therefore, as I indicated, address the issue more fully in his closing speech.
Where we absolutely share a common interest is in our desire, our passion and our determination and drive to create a country that is cleaner and greener than it was when we came into government. I hope that that is an interest shared by all members.
I move,
That the Parliament agrees that Scotland’s stunning natural environment is one of its most precious assets; recognises that wise and productive use of the country’s natural capital is at the heart of a strong, sustainable, low-carbon economy; believes that both its ambition and its record make Scotland a world leader on climate change, and notes that empowering communities by reforming the way that land is owned and managed is vital to creating a fairer Scotland.
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