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DRAFT CROFTING REFORM (SCOTLAND) BILL: Consultation Paper

FOREWORD

The reform of crofting legislation is the latest in a series of measures by the Scottish Executive to deliver land reform to Scotland. It follows the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 which gave crofting communities the right to seek to purchase croft land itself. This draft Bill is consistent with the land reform agenda and will allow crofters and crofting communities greater rights and enhance their ability to determine and secure their own future.

The Crofters (Scotland) Act 1955 and its later additions have served crofting well and assisted the retention of population in the more remote and fragile communities of the Highlands and Islands. Tenants' rights have remained secure and crofters' use of croft land for principally agricultural pursuits has been unimpeded. But society and our economy have greatly changed during the intervening years and the need now is for crofting legislation which, while continuing essential protection, also enables crofters to take advantage of these changes.

Our aim is to amend the legal framework of crofting to increase the opportunities open to croft tenants and croft owners, to enable those living in some of our most remote rural areas of the Highlands and Islands to use their land in new ways as well as continuing in traditional ways. We aim to allow crofters, for the first time, to make use of their whole croft for purposes other than agriculture. This is not to say that agriculture on crofts is no longer valued. On the contrary, we continue to make specific grants available to crofters to encourage good agricultural use of crofts. However, we have also recognised that it is time to allow crofters greater freedom to derive income from their crofts in other ways.

We have been careful to suggest reducing the amount of bureaucracy which crofting legislation imposes on crofters and landlords, while still retaining the role of the Crofters Commission in administering the system.

The draft Bill would enable the Crofters Commission themselves to change to become self-standing and independent of central government. The Commission's powers would be expanded to include power to make grants and they will be given new roles in ensuring croft land is well used and grazing regulations are observed.

We propose to balance these new powers by introducing a comprehensive system of appeal against all decisions of the Crofters Commission in order to provide crofters and landlords with the rights which they already expect under other forms of law administered by Government bodies.

I hope that the proposals put forward in this draft Bill will be carefully considered by all connected with crofting and interested in ensuring that crofting continues to give Scotland its cultural and environmental distinctiveness. Details of how to respond to the draft Bill proposals are set out in Chapter 7 and I hope good use will be made of this opportunity.

ROSS FINNIE

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