The Crofting Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed by Parliament on 1 July 2010 and received Royal Assent on 6 August 2010
The Bill will:
- Reform the Crofters Commission - making it more democratic and accountable. There will be up to 9 members of the Commission, the majority of whom will be crofters elected by crofters.
- Provide a new definitive, map-based Crofting Register that will give crofters and crofting stakeholders greater legal certainty over the land held in crofting tenure (including Common Grazing land) and the boundaries and interests held in that land. It will be operated by the Keeper of The Registers of Scotland.
- Place clear duties on both tenant and owner-occupier crofters to address absenteeism and neglect on croft land. It also requires the Commission to take action against and breach of these duties.
- Tackle pressure from speculation on the development value of croft land by strengthening the grounds under which the Commission may consider an application to decroft and the Scottish Land Court can consider resumption applications.
The Government has also:
- Worked to reduce the croft registration fee from £250 to between £80 to £130 for first registration.
- We have also sought to incentivise community mapping by offering a discount for each croft registered as part of a group of 10 or more crofts and have agreed to delay mandatory triggers for registration for 1 year after the Register commences if community mapping proves successful.
- Taken forward administrative reforms that have focused the Crofters Commission on its core business of regulation through transferring crofting development to Highland and Islands Enterprise and giving responsibility for the administration of crofting agricultural grants to the Government Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate.
- Made provision for landlords interests to be represented on the new Crofting Commission's board. Either by direct elections of such a body or either in the form of one of the Ministerial appointments to the board.
- Closed the Whitbread v MacDonald loophole, which many in crofting wanted closed due the way it allowed individuals to exploit croft land for financial gain to the detriment of crofting.
History
The Government conducted a consultation on a draft Crofting Reform (Scotland) bill during the summer of 2009, listened carefully to feedback received and made changes for the Bill that was introduced to Parliament on 9 December 2010.
At Stage 1, The Scottish Parliament's Rural Affairs and Environment Committee took evidence and published its stage 1 report on 6 May 2010. The Government published its response to the report ahead of the stage 1 debate on 13 May 2010, where Parliament voted to approve the general principles of the Bill, allowing it to proceed to stage 2.
Stage 2 took place on the 2nd, 9th and 16th June 2010, with the Bill receving Parliament's approval at Stage 3 on 1 July 2010. You can find a copy of the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Bill as passed at stage 3 on the Scottish Parliament's website.
What Happens now?
Commencement of the Act is now under way and details of this can be found under Crofting Reform Act.
The Government would like to take this opportunity to thank again all those who participated in the public meetings and submitting their views on the provisions in the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Bill. This process has played an important role in shaping these legislative proposals.