Meeting of the Parliament 24 March 2026 [Draft]
From the crofters uprisings in the late 1880s to the Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886 and the 10 major acts of Parliament on crofting that have been delivered since then, with the last one being the Crofting (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2013, we can see the evolution and the embedding of Scotland as a unique crofting nation. Our crofting communities are the very heart and soul of what, arguably, makes Scotland the best small country in the world. The bill that we will vote on today is the latest instalment, but certainly not the last, in Scotland’s crofting story.
I thank the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee for its work, its diligence, its scrutiny and its evidence gathering, which have helped to shape and reshape the bill so that it will do what we collectively set out to achieve—that is, a simplification of the accumulation of bills that I mentioned, which have, in all honesty, left us with remedial work to do in order to make the crofting legislation fit for purpose in modern Scotland. I believe that the bill will take us to that place.
I place on the record my profound and sincere appreciation for the incredible amount of work and engagement that my officials and policy development teams have put in. It has been a gargantuan effort, with engagement across the crofting communities, the Crofting Commission, the Scottish Land Court and the Lands Tribunal for Scotland. Because of the time that has been spent, the diligence and the extensive engagement, we come to today’s stage 3 debate knowing that no opportunity has been lost to maximise the potential to get to a point where our aims and objectives for the bill are met. I thank everyone who has had a role in helping us to get to where we are.
My final and, I believe, most important thanks go to the crofters and the stakeholders. I have had the great pleasure of meeting many of them. I enjoyed their craic and their hospitality but, most important, I took away the sense of community, of family ties and of the anchor to the land that makes crofting the very heart and soul of our crofting counties. That understanding of what it means to be a crofter is at the epicentre of many of the provisions in the bill and has helped us to shape it so that it can deliver the improvements that I believe that it will.
As I explained in the chamber at stage 1, this crofting reform should be viewed not in isolation but alongside the work of the Crofting Commission. It is important to understand the interplay between the legislation and the commission’s policy plan. The bill provides the necessary framework and the plan provides the detail of how the commission will administer and regulate. I meet the Crofting Commission regularly—in fact, I met its chair and chief executive officer today, and I know that they care deeply about the communities that they serve.
The bill provides the commission with the tools to support crofters by tackling breaches of duty and making stronger decisions on crofting applications that will support active crofting. It will also strengthen the role of grazings committees in managing common land and give crofters, and their communities, a greater say in how the land that they work is used.
We know how complex crofting law is, but the bill takes out some of that complexity. I will take a moment to outline some of the real-world improvements that the bill will deliver. It will give crofters more options in how they use their land. It will allow approximately 700 people to apply to become crofters. It will streamline the enforcement of duties and the family assignation processes. It will prevent crofters who are in breach of their duties from profiteering and removing land from crofting tenure. It will prevent the separation of a grazing share from the inby croft, unless that is specifically approved by the commission. It will give more power to the commission to approve crofter-led environmental uses of common grazings. Crofters will be able to apply to the commission for boundary and registration changes. The bill will create a power to regulate the transfer of owner-occupier crofter status.
All of that represents significant change. The bill will make crofting regulation less onerous for active crofters and the commission, and flexible enough to allow them to grasp new opportunities and cope with future challenges. However, it goes further. It also commits any future Government to scoping and launching a review of crofting law within three years of royal assent at the latest. I have put it on record that, if my party is in Government, it will take place sooner than that.
Crofters and stakeholders have been clear about the need for a broader review of crofting legislation and subsequent future reform. The bill will help to lay the foundations of a stronger and healthier future for crofting, in which we will aim for increased residency levels and more people actively using their crofts and common grazings. The provisions of the bill will support our joint endeavour to breathe new life into crofting communities and to enable rural repopulation.
On part 2 of the bill, I recognise the contributions of both the former and the current chairs of the Scottish Land Court, who have each played an important part in the consideration and development of that reform. Part 2 creates a single judicial body for resolving disputes that relate to crofting, agricultural land or valuation. It brings together the Land Court’s specialist remit and the Lands Tribunal for Scotland’s wider land, title and valuation functions.
The court will continue to work in the long-standing traditions that matter deeply to the community that it serves. Rightly, the statutory requirement for a Gaelic-speaking member and local sittings, and the specialist character of the court, will remain. The reform is proportionate and practical, and will provide the flexibility that is required to respond to future demands.
In concluding my opening remarks, I reflect on the deep connection and sense of belonging that characterise our crofting communities. The pull and draw of the land, its stewardship through generations and that deep sense of community and culture are things that we must cherish and support. That is why I assure members of the Government’s commitment to our crofting communities and to a unique way of life, which is built on the hard-won rights of those who refused to be forced from their own land. In this age of instability, their courage and persistence are a lesson to us all. Today, through the bill, we honour that proud legacy as we seek to build on it to secure crofting’s place in Scotland’s future.
I move,
That the Parliament agrees that the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill be passed.