Hansard

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 issue.

The bill is a good example of working together, but it is by no means the end of our work on crofting. It is part of a long-term commitment by the Executive to the future of crofting, crofting communities and some of the most fragile island and rural parts of Scotland. Alasdair Morrison was right to note that, by passing the bill, we will allow many valuable provisions to be implemented and provide a platform on which to build further action, once the committee of inquiry on crofting has reached its conclusions.

In today's debate, we have heard broadly positive views expressed about the important provisions in the bill—for example, those that tackle interposed leases, simplify the regulation of crofting and tackle the underlying bureaucracy. We heard from Eleanor Scott that for the first time the Crofters Commission will have the scope to challenge the neglect of croft land. We heard from Rob Gibson, Fergus Ewing, Maureen Macmillan and Nora Radcliffe about the importance of establishing new crofts and extending crofting tenure to Arran and other parts of Scotland. The Minister for Communities, Rhona Brankin, is now considering how the Crofters Commission can best contribute to the modernised planning system. I note that she has remained in the chamber for the entirety of the debate, which demonstrates her continuing interest in the topic.

The bill will deliver big headline changes but, as Ross Finnie illustrated, it also includes many detailed provisions that will have a positive impact on day-to-day matters for crofters. I will give members some examples. Earlier this morning, we debated an amendment from Maureen Macmillan, which stipulates that the Crofters Commission should discharge its functions with regard to local circumstances. The insertion in the bill at stage 2 of the word "specific" will allow ministers to be very clear and precise about what they expect the commission to achieve and prioritise, and to set out how they expect the commission to conduct its business. Much of the rest of the bill and existing crofting legislation is about how the commission should handle local circumstances. By adding the ability to give specific ministerial direction, we have provided sufficient scope to ensure that local circumstances are considered. That may have seemed a modest amendment at stage 2, but it will be important.

There are other detailed changes that we have not had time to debate today. The existing protections in crofting legislation for the spouses and partners of crofters who die without a will, which ensure that they have rights over their croft house, have been extended to give them rights over the croft as well. That simple provision should avoid distress and disputes in crofting households at what are, inevitably, difficult times for people.

The tighter definition of what constitutes family members will prevent croft collectors from gathering up their so-called cousins' crofts. It will be much more difficult to avoid the formal assignation process and to claim that the croft has been assigned within the family. As a result, young people and others who would like to gain access to a croft should stand a better chance of getting one.

One of the more important features of the bill is that, in the future, the register of crofts that is maintained by the Crofters Commission will be a public record that is accessible to anyone. It will be a more comprehensive record and, significantly, if a croft has been registered or recognised as a croft for more than 20 years the matter of whether it is a genuine croft will no longer be open to dispute. In future, it will be possible for land that is apportioned out of common grazings for use by an individual to be returned to common use. Neglected and unwanted apportionments will now be capable of being returned to common use.

Grazings committees, which are important to the effective management of common grazings, will in future be able to challenge a shareholder who breaches grazings regulations and may ask the commission to suspend that shareholder's rights. It will no longer be viable for a single shareholder to ignore the wishes and intentions of the majority of shareholders. The Scottish Land Court and the Crofters Commission will have a definition of a crofting community on which to base their judgments. The importance of that was only too evident in the now famous Taynuilt case.

In mentioning the details and explaining their importance, I do not underestimate the significance of some of the more complex and involved provisions. I agree with John Farquhar Munro that our passing the bill today will be historic for our crofting communities. It will be recognition of the fact that we needed to modernise crofting legislation in the 21st century and that there is more to come from the Executive and the Parliament.

The provisions in relation to schemes for development have the potential to facilitate large-scale developments on croft land that might otherwise be frustrated. I refer to developments such as renewable energy projects, which—if they secure planning approval—could benefit crofters and crofting communities enormously. Some developments have the potential to create something akin to the Shetland oil fund, which was negotiated in the 1970s and has sustained massive economic and infrastructure development and social progress in those islands for decades.

This is an important bill. I know, because I heard all the evidence. I commend the motion to Parliament.