Another crofting bill is increasingly likely in the new parliament after the Holyrood elections, with a growing consensus the present legislation is in urgent need of simplification.
The last crofting reform act was as recently as 2010 and before that 2007, but they are seen by some as creating as many problems as they solved.
At a recent crofting law conference in Edinburgh here was cross-party agreement on the need for action.
Trudi Sharp, Deputy Director of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform, in the Scottish Government stood in at the last minute for Dr Aileen McLeod, Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, who was unwell and unable to deliver the keynote address on behalf of the Scottish Government.
Ms Sharp said she had yet to speak to anyone who would disagree with the sentiment that there was a need to simplify crofting legislation. She said:-
“The Minister is clear that crofting legislation should be well thought through with stakeholders and deliver law that is modern, simple and fit for purpose.”
The conference heard the views of the opposition parties: Rhoda Grant Highlands and Islands Labour MSP; Tavish Scott Liberal Democrat MSP for Shetland; Donald Cameron, election candidate for the Scottish Conservatives; and Andy Wightman, candidate for the Scottish Green Party.
Ms Grant said:-“The 2010 Act is a mess and probably needs to be revoked altogether.”
This was echoed by Mr Scott who said:-
“The less said about the 2010 Act the better. It is one of the worst pieces of legislation ever passed by the Scottish Government.”
Donald Cameron was of the view that it was “time for crofting law to be for the crofters and not the lawyers”. He warned though that “if you legislate in haste on crofting law you will repent at leisure”.
Andy Wightman, quoting Highland historian Jim Hunter, referred to crofting law as a “highly unsatisfactory guddle”.
Brian Inkster, Hon Secretary of the Crofting Law Group which had organised the conference along with the WS Society (Scotland's independent association for lawyers), said:-
“It is heartening to see such cross-party support for crofting law reform. The word ‘mess’ was used more than once to describe the current state of crofting legislation. It is to be hoped that the next Scottish Government take cognisance of this and put crofting high on their agenda for new legislation during the next parliamentary term.”
A Scottish Government spokesman yesterday confirmed:
“We are currently engaging with key partners, including the Crofting Law Stakeholder Group, to develop a programme of work, including possible legislation, that could potentially be taken forward in the next parliamentary term. Any changes to crofting legislation would have to happen in the context of wider work that crofting stakeholder organisations are undertaking to develop a shared vision for crofting. It is also important that any suggested changes take broader policy developments into account, such as the Scottish Government’s work on land reform and succession law.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel