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Land Reform Policy Group

To obtain information on individual land reform topics you should access the relevant site.

Background

The Land Reform Policy Group was established in October 1997 under the chairmanship of Lord Sewel, the then Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries at The Scottish Office. The Group's main objective was to consider a number of wide-ranging matters relating to land use and tenure in Scotland, with the remit:

"to identify and assess proposals for land reform in rural Scotland, taking account of their cost, legislative and administrative implications and their likely impact on the social and economic development of rural communities and on the natural heritage."

Core members of the Land Reform Policy Group included representatives from the University of Aberdeen, the Forestry Commission and The Scottish Office.

The Group published 3 documents:

Identifying the Problems - published February 1998, was its first consultation document, which details the problems and opportunities which land reform should address. The consultation exercise attracted over 360 responses, plus a further 90 dealing with land reform in response to the rural strategy consultation paper.

Identifying the Solutions - published September 1998, was the Group's 2nd consultation document, which attracted 846 responses. The document details the Group's visions for the future and sets out the next steps which should be taken for achieving these visions. A summary document was also produced.

Recommendations for Action - published January 1999, while this was not intended as a consultation document, a number of responses were still received. The Group's final recommendations are set out at Annex B of the report.

Page updated: Wednesday, May 4, 2005