| |
Land Reform Policy
Group:
Identifying
the Problems (February 1998) |
| |
| 1. Introduction |
| 1.1 The land area of
Scotland is about 2% urban and 98% rural. Land reform
issues relate primarily to rural land. Of the rural land,
3% consists of rocky ground or mountaintops of no
agricultural value; a further 15% is forestry; and the
remaining 80% is agricultural. About 60% of this
agricultural land is managed by landowners or by
owner-occupiers; 30% is held by agricultural tenants; and
10% is in crofting tenure. Land ownership, tenure and
management arrangements can exert a significant impact on
the lives of individual Scots, in terms of the
opportunities available to them or conversely in terms of
barriers to freedom of action. |
| 1.2 With the creation of
the Scottish Parliament imminent, the time is right for a
new comprehensive review to determine what needs to
change to fit Scotland’s land legislation for the
twenty-first century. This is why the Government included
in its Manifesto for the 1997 General Election the
commitment "to initiate a study into the system of
land ownership and management in Scotland". That
commitment has been met by the establishment in October
1997 of the Land Reform Policy Group, with a 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."
|
| 1.3 The Group is chaired
by Lord Sewel, Minister for Agriculture, the Environment
and Fisheries, and other members are senior Scottish
Office (and Forestry Commission) staff representing the
wide range of relevant interests; plus Professor John
Bryden as external assessor. During the current year, the
Group will be seeking firstly to identify the problems
and opportunities which land reform should address; and
then to identify practicable solutions to the problems,
and ways to capitalise on the available opportunities.
Its main aim is to provide the Scottish Parliament with
an agenda for action on land reform; but it may be
possible for some recommendations to be implemented
earlier by the present Government. |
| 1.4 The Group is keen to
take full account of the expertise of other individuals
and organisations in its own work. The Group is also
keeping in close touch with other reviews being conducted
by Government Departments and other agencies with
implications for land reform. And the Group will consult
widely, firstly on its provisional conclusions about what
the most significant problems and issues are; and then on
its emerging recommendations as to the best solutions. |
| 1.5 This document draws
on the published work of many commentators in defining
the case for land reform and identifying the problems and
the scope for change. It is the first stage of the
Group’s consultation process. |
 |
