Chamber
Plenary, 25 Jan 2007
25 Jan 2007 · S2 · Plenary
Item of business
Crofting Reform etc Bill
As always, I am reluctant to anticipate the conclusions of an independent inquiry. Obviously, there will be no change unless the matter comes before Parliament. The proposal was contained in the bill, and I respect the position that Mr Ewing has consistently maintained on it.
If the committee of inquiry came up with a radical way in which the Crofters Commission should be run, if evidence was led that the vast majority of those in the crofting counties were in favour of it, and if it would result in a change of structure such that the status of the civil servants would be changed, we would have to consider it. Inevitably, any change in the status of the Crofters Commission could involve that prospect. However, we are not seeking to give an instruction to bring that about. The matter will emerge only from the evidence that is taken by that committee, which will soon commence its work in earnest and will report by the end of 2007.
Following stage 2, we now have a bill that commands a high degree of support. When the bill is enacted, it will be possible to register new croft tenants at any time of year and not just twice a year, at Whitsun and Martinmas. That will allow new crofters to get started on bringing neglected crofts back into use or allow them to start building new croft houses for their families when it suits them rather than up to six months after an assignation has been approved, as happens under current legislation.
In future, if crofters are in dispute with each other over croft boundaries and the Land Court is asked to determine the boundaries but finds that the evidence is inconclusive, the court will be able to take a pragmatic view and declare the boundary to be that which it considers appropriate. The intractable and endless disputes that we currently see between crofters over boundaries should, therefore, be avoidable.
If a crofter should wish to subdivide his or her croft to enable the parts to be assigned to sons or daughters who wish to establish themselves in their community, the landlord will no longer be able to prevent that subdivision.
There are many significant and valuable changes in the bill that will improve the operation of the law in relation to crofting. Crofting legislation will always be complex and what crofters need from legislation will continue to change over time. Rob Gibson has referred to the length of time in terms of modernising the situation. However, as I said to the Environment and Rural Development Committee, there is a need for some consolidation. I am sure that Rob Gibson agrees that there is a need for consistency across the large number of pieces of legislation if we are to bring about the necessary changes.
I hope that the bill will be good for crofters and the crofting counties and that the work of the committee of inquiry will further improve that position. This important bill represents a major step forward. I commend it to Parliament.
I move,
That the Parliament agrees that the Crofting Reform etc. Bill be passed.
If the committee of inquiry came up with a radical way in which the Crofters Commission should be run, if evidence was led that the vast majority of those in the crofting counties were in favour of it, and if it would result in a change of structure such that the status of the civil servants would be changed, we would have to consider it. Inevitably, any change in the status of the Crofters Commission could involve that prospect. However, we are not seeking to give an instruction to bring that about. The matter will emerge only from the evidence that is taken by that committee, which will soon commence its work in earnest and will report by the end of 2007.
Following stage 2, we now have a bill that commands a high degree of support. When the bill is enacted, it will be possible to register new croft tenants at any time of year and not just twice a year, at Whitsun and Martinmas. That will allow new crofters to get started on bringing neglected crofts back into use or allow them to start building new croft houses for their families when it suits them rather than up to six months after an assignation has been approved, as happens under current legislation.
In future, if crofters are in dispute with each other over croft boundaries and the Land Court is asked to determine the boundaries but finds that the evidence is inconclusive, the court will be able to take a pragmatic view and declare the boundary to be that which it considers appropriate. The intractable and endless disputes that we currently see between crofters over boundaries should, therefore, be avoidable.
If a crofter should wish to subdivide his or her croft to enable the parts to be assigned to sons or daughters who wish to establish themselves in their community, the landlord will no longer be able to prevent that subdivision.
There are many significant and valuable changes in the bill that will improve the operation of the law in relation to crofting. Crofting legislation will always be complex and what crofters need from legislation will continue to change over time. Rob Gibson has referred to the length of time in terms of modernising the situation. However, as I said to the Environment and Rural Development Committee, there is a need for some consolidation. I am sure that Rob Gibson agrees that there is a need for consistency across the large number of pieces of legislation if we are to bring about the necessary changes.
I hope that the bill will be good for crofters and the crofting counties and that the work of the committee of inquiry will further improve that position. This important bill represents a major step forward. I commend it to Parliament.
I move,
That the Parliament agrees that the Crofting Reform etc. Bill be passed.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Trish Godman):
Lab
The next item of business is a debate on motion S2M-5335, in the name of Ross Finnie, that the Parliament agrees that the Crofting Reform etc Bill be passed.
The Minister for Environment and Rural Development (Ross Finnie):
LD
I will deal with the formal part first. For the purposes of rule 9.11 of the standing orders, I advise the Parliament that Her Majesty, having been informed ...
Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP):
SNP
Can the minister clarify a matter in the interests of the staff who work for the Crofters Commission? Originally, the bill proposed that the commission shoul...
Ross Finnie:
LD
As always, I am reluctant to anticipate the conclusions of an independent inquiry. Obviously, there will be no change unless the matter comes before Parliame...
Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP):
SNP
The Scottish National Party welcomes the final stage of the bill. The bill is equitable and achieves fairly small administrative changes that benefit crofter...
Mr Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
Members will be aware that the Conservatives opposed the bill at stage 1. We agreed with the Environment and Rural Development Committee's fairly devastating...
Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab):
Lab
It is good to see the Crofting Reform etc Bill completing its passage through the Parliament.It is important that we have legislation that is fit for purpose...
Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD):
LD
Crofting tenure has sustained rural communities in the crofting counties since the Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886 was passed and the legal concept of ...
Mr Alasdair Morrison (Western Isles) (Lab):
Lab
A week last Friday, I attended the celebrations in the community of Ness when Galson estate, which covers some 54,000 acres and includes some 20 townships, m...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Lab
I ask members please to ensure that their mobile phones are off.
Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green):
Green
I add my thanks to everybody who has been involved in the bill—the committee clerks, people from the Scottish Parliament information centre and the people fr...
John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD):
LD
This is an historic day and a debate in which I am delighted to be involved. Even the elements are kind to us today. The sun is shining down on us, so somebo...
Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con):
Con
It is sad that John Farquhar Munro's sensible amendments to do with building on the common grazings and not on the arable parts of crofts were knocked back. ...
Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP):
SNP
I, too, thank the Scottish Crofting Foundation for its help and support throughout the bill and pay tribute to the cross-party group on crofting. Of all the ...
Ross Finnie:
LD
Will the member give way?
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
I will in just a minute.I am genuinely perplexed about that and I am profoundly concerned about the implications of the decision.
Ross Finnie:
LD
I can understand the member's concern. I think that that was the only occasion on which I personally had to make the decision. It might help the member to kn...
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
I am grateful to the minister for that clarification, but I am still unclear about why he felt bound to take the decision that he did. Perhaps he and I can p...
Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD):
LD
Fergus Ewing and Jamie McGrigor have set out a worthy list of priorities for the committee of inquiry. However, although we can hope that there may be no mor...
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
No one disagrees that that is a major issue for the committee. I am sure that it will examine the matter thoroughly, as Jamie Stone has advocated.I would pre...
The Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development (Sarah Boyack):
Lab
Sometimes life takes unexpected twists and turns. Who would have thought that, after convening the Parliament's Environment and Rural Development Committee, ...
Mr McGrigor rose—
Con
Sarah Boyack:
Lab
Would Jamie McGrigor like to agree with me?
Mr McGrigor:
Con
No. I suggest to the minister that it might have been more appropriate for the Executive to listen before the bill was written.
Sarah Boyack:
Lab
There was a fair amount of consultation before the bill was introduced. If Jamie McGrigor reads the committee's conclusions, he will find a deep analysis of ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Murray Tosh):
Con
That concludes this item of business. For the benefit of members of the public in the gallery, I note that business has finished about five minutes early.
Meeting suspended until 11:40.
On resuming—