Meeting of the Parliament 24 March 2026 [Draft]
I am pleased to speak for the Scottish Liberal Democrats on the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill at stage 3. I, too, thank the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee convener, members and clerks, the bill team, those who gave evidence and the many organisations that sent briefings on the amendment stages of the bill.
As I stated in the chamber at stage 1, and as other members have highlighted today, reform of the legal landscape around crofting has been slow to emerge. The bill is a welcome step, but it is not lost on those in the crofting counties that the Scottish Government has left it right to the end of the parliamentary session.
Similarly, the Scottish Government has published the long-awaited rural support plan today, and it is disappointing that the Parliament has no time to scrutinise it. Such delays could create the perception that the Scottish Government does not recognise the importance of agriculture and crofting to Scotland.
At stage 2, I put forward the Law Society of Scotland’s suggestion to provide certainty around the involvement of family members or hired labour in a crofter’s fulfilment of their duties. The wording that specified that such assistance is permissible was removed by the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993, and my amendment, which was accepted by the committee, reinstated that wording.
I am grateful to the minister for working with me to ensure that that wording is replicated in the section on owner-occupier crofters, thereby providing consistency.
It is long past time to have a serious review of crofting legislation, to stop making minor adjustments around the edges and to consolidate it. During stage 3, my party and I supported the Scottish Government’s amendment that requires a review of crofting law to begin within three years of royal assent. That review must be prioritised in the next parliamentary session and should not be left to the last minute. Crofters have already waited too long. I am concerned about the timescale and do not want to see another parliamentary session slipping by without adequate time being given to the much-needed review and action.
The review must engage crofters from across the crofting counties. They are the ones who must tell the Scottish Government what crofting should look like and what is needed in the coming decades, not the other way round. The Scottish Government will need to understand not only how crofters approach crofting today but how it is changing and how they envisage the regulatory framework working for them in the future. The review will need to capture the differences in crofting practice across the crofting communities, so that they can be recognised in its recommendations.
During the bill’s scrutiny, there were discussions about the complexities of common grazings. The specific review of the operation of common grazings, which must take place within five years, should be taken together with the overall review.
The tradition of crofting is the backbone of agriculture in Shetland. It is very important to all rural and island areas, where working the croft land provides economic and environmental benefits, enriches our cultural heritage and community and helps to counter depopulation. It is time for politicians from across Scotland to recognise and value crofting and its contribution to the rural island areas of the crofting counties. The Scottish Liberal Democrats will support the bill today, but it must be a stepping stone to wider crofting reform.