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Every contribution to the Official Report — chamber and committee — searchable in one place. Pulled from data.parliament.scot, indexed for full-text search, linked through to every MSP.

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2,354,908
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1999–2026
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Showing 60 of 2,354,908 contributions. Latest 30 days: 0. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 25 Mar 2026.
The Convener Con Committee
05 Nov 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
The next item on our agenda is an evidence session with the Scottish Land Court on the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill. I welcome to the meeting Alison Irving, who is the principal clerk for the Scottish Land Court and the Lands Tribunal for Scotland. Good morning. I not...
The Convener Con Committee
05 Nov 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
An environmental court could be a big and very busy body. Since Brexit, there has been talk about whether there should be an environmental court and about the Government’s policy position on that. We are not going to go into the policy position, but it is almost the case that,...
The Convener Con Committee
05 Nov 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Given that we are touching on the subject, and given how big a change it might be, has the Scottish Government consulted or asked the Scottish Land Court and the Lands Tribunal about taking on environmental court status?
Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con) Con Chamber
02 Oct 2025
Dog Theft (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I am pleased to speak on behalf of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee about our stage 1 scrutiny of Maurice Golden’s Dog Theft (Scotland) Bill. Given the bill’s focused scope and the 237 responses to Mr Golden’s consultation, the committee agreed to a shortened stage 1 in...
The Convener Con Committee
12 Nov 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Welcome back. We now move on to consideration of part 2 of the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill, which relates to the merger of the Scottish Land Court and the Lands Tribunal for Scotland. The minister is joined by two Scottish Government officials: Martin Brown, solicito...
Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con) Con Chamber
13 Jan 2026
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
I am pleased to speak on behalf of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee to present our stage 1 report. At the outset, I acknowledge the positive feedback from many stakeholders about the Scottish Government’s engagement on the bill—we do not often hear such praise, and it s...
The Convener Con Committee
11 Feb 2026
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 2
Our next agenda item is consideration of the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill at stage 2. I welcome Jim Fairlie, the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, who is supported by colleagues from the Scottish Government.Today, we have three members who are participating r...
Finlay Carson Con Chamber
01 Mar 2017
Portfolio Question Time · Courts (Conclusion of Cases)
Pressure on Scotland’s courts is not a new issue. In 2015, Audit Scotland published a report highlighting the difficulties that they face, and the situation seems only to be getting worse. That is after the Scottish Government ignored warnings from Opposition parties and slash...
Finlay Carson Con Committee
29 Oct 2019
Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I will move on to the issue of animals that are taken into possession to protect their welfare. Over the past 13 years, court orders have been used only 40 times to allow local authorities to take animals away for their welfare, either to be rehomed or to be destroyed. The Gov...
The Convener Con Committee
28 Jun 2023
Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
We have heard fears of licences being suspended on the initiation of an official investigation into, say, traps that have not been set correctly or appropriately. I assume that it will potentially take a court case to decide whether removal of a licence—with, potentially, the ...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Our next agenda item is an evidence session with the Crofting Commission on the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill. I welcome to the meeting Andrew Thin, who is the chair of the commission, and Gary Campbell, who is the chief executive. Thank you for joining us. As usual, ...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Is there an argument for toughening up the scenarios in which those shares can be decoupled from the crofting land? We have heard of people keeping the shares as an investment, because they see future value in them through a wind turbine being built on common grazings, for exa...
The Convener (Finlay Carson) Con Committee
08 Oct 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Good morning, and welcome to the 28th meeting in 2025 of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee. Before we begin, I ask everyone to please ensure that their electronic devices are switched to silent. Our first item on the agenda is consideration of the Crofting and Scottish ...
The Convener Con Committee
08 Oct 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
We resume our evidence session on stage 1 of the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill with questions on common grazings from Alasdair Allan.
The Convener (Finlay Carson) Con Committee
29 Oct 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill (Stage 1)
Good morning, and welcome to the 29th meeting in 2025 of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee. Before we begin, I ask everyone to ensure that their electronic devices are switched to silent. Our first agenda item is consideration of the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bi...
The Convener (Finlay Carson) Con Committee
12 Nov 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Good morning, and welcome to the 31st meeting in 2025 of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee. As usual, I remind everyone to switch electronic devices to silent. Our first agenda item is an evidence session with the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity on the Croftin...
The Convener Con Committee
12 Nov 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Minister, are you in favour of a stand-alone environmental court, or might what we have now change in future to cover more environmental cases?
The Convener (Finlay Carson) Con Committee
04 Feb 2026
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 2
Good morning, and welcome to the fifth meeting in 2026 of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee. Emma Roddick and Rhoda Grant are attending remotely. As usual, I ask members to ensure that all electronic devices are switched to silent.This morning, we will be considering the...
Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con) Con Chamber
06 Dec 2018
General Question Time · Illegal Puppy Trade
There is an ever-increasing awareness of the link between puppy farming and organised crime. Instead of having £20,000-worth of drugs in their van, a criminal today may have £20,000-worth of puppies. A drug seizure of that kind could result in a lengthy jail sentence, but a pu...
3. Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con) Con Chamber
03 Apr 2019
Portfolio Question Time · Post-Brexit Environmental Governance
To ask the Scottish Government what process is in place for it to identify its preferred option for delivering effective environmental governance following Brexit, including functions equivalent to those carried out by the European Commission and European Court. (S5O-03088)
Finlay Carson Con Committee
29 Oct 2019
Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Where is such a decision taken? For example, if a member of the public reports what they see as a potential animal welfare issue, at what level is the decision taken to seize puppies or dairy cows, for example, and process them quickly? In the case of puppies, it may be that t...
3. Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con) Con Chamber
18 Feb 2021
Portfolio Question Time · Covid-19 (Support for Court Services)
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting court services during the Covid-19 pandemic. (S5O-05027)
Finlay Carson Con Chamber
18 Feb 2021
Portfolio Question Time · Covid-19 (Support for Court Services)
The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has announced further restrictions on court activity until the end of March, which is yet another blow to victims, who will now have to wait longer in their quest for justice. Why has the Scottish National Party Government not given co...
The Convener Con Committee
31 May 2023
Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I am concerned that this is a double whammy. For example, if you were to shoot a golden eagle on land that was not designated as grouse moor, the penalty that you would get would be different from what you would get if you had been on a grouse moor. How do the implications of ...
The Convener Con Committee
31 May 2023
Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
We could spend an awful lot of time on this area. There are issues with NatureScot deciding on the civil burden of proof that a licence should be suspended even if a court does not. There are some difficulties understanding how that will engage with the ECHR. We will probably...
Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con) Con Chamber
26 Mar 2025
Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I will start my contribution in the same vein as Michael Matheson. I remember our late Presiding Officer, Sir Alex Ferguson, warning me when I first took up my post as an MSP to avoid land reform and deer management. Sadly, I am standing here talking about land reform, and in ...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Does the bill need to be tightened to give a clearer definition of the Government’s intended outcomes? You mentioned the need for flexibility. Could such clarity be provided in guidance?
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
We heard about an example that involved a croft that appeared to have been abandoned. However, the crofter had a website that described a range of different environmental activities that they were involved in on the croft. It was clear that what was on the website was not real...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
It would be fair to say that there have been universal concerns about the Crofting Commission’s enforcement. That is not about whether the commission has the teeth or legislation to back up the actions that need to be taken; it is about how often enforcement takes place and is...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
We will move on to enforcement duties. I know that we have touched on them, but Alasdair Allan has a further question.
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
In relation to Emma Harper’s question, if there are multiple breaches, will that have an adverse or a positive effect on the commission’s workload? There is a good word for what we are talking about: “clyping” on your neighbour. At the moment, complaints are almost filtered, i...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
On that theme, we have heard concerns about the grazings committees having had to take some rap from crofters that should have sat with the commission itself. They had to report, but they were not allowed to do so anonymously, and it caused quite a high level of stress in town...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Not animosity. Anonymity—that is the word. I am not going to try to say that again. You know where I am coming from. In the past, there have been concerns that certain individuals have been targeted because of reporting breaches. Will there be that sort of fairness, if the co...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
I suppose that I am asking whether complainants need to be named. They could be known to you and they would need to say so. You might have, say, croft number 1 with Donald MacDonald and croft number 2 with Cameron MacLeod; if there is centuries-old bad blood between them, Dona...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
The question is whether you think that naming complainants would be helpful. Some grazings committees have a limited number of members because of the way that the townships are made up, which makes individuals feel less comfortable about making a complaint. At the moment, the ...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
That is helpful.
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Before we move on to the next questions, about common grazings, I would like you to set out exactly the issues with sub-tenants and short leases, whether they are formal or informal. We have heard that a number of crofters sometimes use subletting or informal agreements to he...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
We have also heard that, in some instances, crofters have suggested short-term lets until they have made a decision on their future. We had some absent crofters who lived in Inverness and had another job, and it was quite clear that they were never going back to the croft. The...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
I inadvertently jumped forward by about six questions, as I got confused with Rhoda Grant. That is my fault—my apologies. We are currently looking at common grazings and we will go back to the Crofting Commission’s powers, but we will stick with common grazings for the moment....
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
How do you deal with lost shares? I imagine that, somewhere along the line, following their decoupling from crofting land, common grazings shares have disappeared, with nobody knowing where those shares sit. Is there a need for the common grazings system to be able to retrieve...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Ariane Burgess is next.
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Okay. I will go to Rhoda Grant.
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
We will now jump back to discussing the Crofting Commission’s powers, which is where we should have been.
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
The bill mostly tidies up previous legislation, but it introduces a streamlined process for family assignations, which recognises owner-occupier crofts but removes the no-purpose route for decrofting. We understand that that will improve efficiency and ensure fairness, but how...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
What are the thoughts behind no-purpose decrofting?
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Are you happy that no further safeguards need to be put in place?
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Thank you. We will move on to a question from Emma Roddick.
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
It is quite obvious that not double reporting transfers and the keeper being ultimately responsible for the registrations is a good way forward. I imagine that, in the future, there will be an opportunity for Registers of Scotland to overlay different maps, whether that is via...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
The final few questions will be from Emma Harper.
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Gary Campbell mentioned that some provisions in the bill are for tidying up, and some of those do not make sense outside the Crofting Commission. A truer word could never be spoken. I will not put you on the spot just now, but is it possible for you to set out the provisions t...
The Convener Con Committee
24 Sep 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
I thank Andrew Thin and Gary Campbell very much for a great session. I must admit that, over the past five days, I have learned so much about crofting, which has, I suppose, highlighted just how little I knew before. The evidence that we have received in the past five days fr...
The Convener Con Committee
08 Oct 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
It sounds as though having the additional purpose of environmental use could make the situation worse. A number of respondents suggested that abandoned crofts could be described as having been rewilded. Could the inclusion of environmental use allow people to use that as an ex...
The Convener Con Committee
08 Oct 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
So, it could make the issue worse. Do the other witnesses have any thoughts on that?
The Convener Con Committee
08 Oct 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
The Law Society of Scotland, in its submission, comments that any subsequent change to the list of uses for crofts should “not prejudice those who have made long term commitments to particular uses prior to the removal of that purpose”. How will that be an issue in practice?
The Convener Con Committee
08 Oct 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Emma Harper has a supplementary question on Eilidh Ross’s point.
The Convener Con Committee
08 Oct 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
I think that this is an appropriate point at which to jump to questions from the next member. Evelyn Tweed has some questions specifically about the topic that you just raised. I will come back to Ariane Burgess.
The Convener Con Committee
08 Oct 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
We are, in effect, looking at the enforcement of crofting duties. The question follows on from your comment that it is all very well to have provisions for different uses, including environmental use, but there is little point in having them if they are not enforced. It is abo...
The Convener Con Committee
08 Oct 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
I am sure that I am going to pre-empt what Alasdair Allan is about to say, but I note that the need to record who the person complaining was, at a grazing committee or whatever, previously caused issues. The bill will allow anyone to raise concerns.
The Convener Con Committee
08 Oct 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
You could say that, but, if someone is not abiding by crofter duties, whether they are getting grassed up or not—
The Convener Con Committee
08 Oct 2025
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
I have a further question for Brian. You highlighted that the Crofting Commission has historically focused on addressing residency rather than neglect. Do you think that the bill can address that issue? We visited Skye and heard about some crofters who are resident in one crof...
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Committee

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee 05 November 2025

05 Nov 2025 · S6 · Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Item of business
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Stage 1
Carson, Finlay Con Galloway and West Dumfries Watch on SPTV

The next item on our agenda is an evidence session with the Scottish Land Court on the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill. I welcome to the meeting Alison Irving, who is the principal clerk for the Scottish Land Court and the Lands Tribunal for Scotland. Good morning. I note that you do not have to operate your microphone; a gentleman will do that for you. We do not anticipate that the session will take very long, but we have allocated it 30 minutes. Although the Scottish Land Court cannot comment on policy decisions, I hope that we can discuss some of the operational impacts that part 2 of the bill could potentially have.

My first question to you is about the main operational benefits, but also the risks, of merging the Scottish Land Court and the Lands Tribunal for Scotland. In his submission to the committee, Lord Duthie highlighted some operational implications of the bill as it is currently worded. Do you have any additional comments?

In the same item of business

The Convener Con
The next item on our agenda is an evidence session with the Scottish Land Court on the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill. I welcome to the meeting Alison...
Alison Irving (Scottish Land Court and Lands Tribunal for Scotland)
The administrative team, which I lead, has gradually been merged over the past four years, which we have found to be very beneficial. The biggest benefit is ...
The Convener Con
At the moment, is there sometimes a sense of overlap in the expertise of the two bodies, or is there synergy between the teams such that bringing them togeth...
Alison Irving
I think so, yes. I do not know whether any of you are responsible for the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, but you will have seen that there are various provisio...
The Convener Con
In the mind of the public, there are grey areas in relation to what roles the two bodies have and who should deal with what. That would be taken away because...
Alison Irving
I think so, yes. There will still be things that go to the ordinary courts—the sheriff court or the Court of Session—but, when things go to a specialist cour...
Alasdair Allan (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP) SNP
I realise that there is a limit to what you can comment on, but I will pick up on some of those themes. On the administrative impact, Lord Duthie, the chairm...
Alison Irving
The Lands Tribunal has more work coming in than the Land Court does, and the bulk of its cases are the types of cases that are listed there. I am not suggest...
The Convener Con
Lord Duthie also highlighted that there have been no applications from Gaelic speakers in the past 10 years and that the requirement to have a Gaelic-speakin...
Alison Irving
I will be careful in what I say here, because my role is only operational. Clearly, as soon as you add more qualifications, you make it more difficult for pe...
The Convener Con
I guess that the requirement for a member to have Gaelic is not necessarily the most important thing. The most important thing is that there is access to Gae...
Alison Irving
Looking at the process purely operationally—I do not want to stray into policy—the important thing is to ensure that everybody is clear about what is happeni...
Alasdair Allan SNP
I appreciate your description, but I would add, just for the record, that it is possible for people to learn languages, including Gaelic.
Alison Irving
Yes.
Ariane Burgess (Highlands and Islands) (Green) Green
This might be straying from operational matters, but I wonder whether the requirement for a Gaelic speaker is really more about a cultural piece and people’s...
Alison Irving
I think that it probably is. I understand what you are saying, and it is certainly helpful, but the court has to apply the legislation. It would be a case of...
Beatrice Wishart (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD
Good morning. Some concerns were raised in evidence that the merger is a cost-cutting exercise. You have indicated that the two courts have gradually merged ...
Alison Irving
As the lead for the team, I certainly would not want to see it compromised. We started merging the administrative support four years ago, because the Lands T...
Evelyn Tweed (Stirling) (SNP) SNP
Good morning, and thank you for your answers so far. In your opinion, would Lands Tribunal members sitting in the new Land Court retain the same decision-mak...
Alison Irving
Again, I can answer only from the operational side. I cannot see any reason why not. The Land Court and the Lands Tribunal have been co-located for many year...
Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) Lab
The Land Court and the Lands Tribunal have different expertise in a lot of areas. The concern is not about the here and now, but about the future. Is there l...
Alison Irving
The expanded Land Court would still require to have agricultural members and surveyor members, so I presume that that level of expertise would be retained. A...
Tim Eagle (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con
How would you ensure that, following the merger, parties would have rights of appeal that were equivalent to those that they have now?
Alison Irving
That would be a legislative provision.
The Convener Con
Simple questions, simple answers—that is the way we like it. The next question, from Ariane Burgess, might not be quite so straightforward.
Ariane Burgess Green
My question is about the potential expansion of the Land Court’s functions. The Scottish Government has stated that “consideration will be given to the expa...
Alison Irving
Whether that happens is a policy question, and, as I am on the operational side, I would do whatever I was asked to do. Having said that, the Land Court alre...
Ariane Burgess Green
So, you could take on Aarhus-related cases.
Alison Irving
I would have thought so, but that is purely from the operational side. Unless something was going to come with a large amount of extra work—in which case we ...
The Convener Con
An environmental court could be a big and very busy body. Since Brexit, there has been talk about whether there should be an environmental court and about th...