Why SNP's land reform Bill is shaping up to be a disaster
The political mantra around land reform in Scotland has, in the main, been that it is a ‘journey’. Right now, it feels as though those wedded to the journey have taken a detour into a maze – and completely lost their way.
As the Scottish Parliament heads towards the final stages of the third land reform Bill since devolution began, we now have a bizarre and even farcical situation in which land reformists and landowners alike believe the proposed legislation is unworkable.
It is sometimes said that if legislation is not pleasing anyone, it’s a sign of compromise and a sensible outcome. Not so in this case.
We have reached a position where the Scottish Government is so committed to continuing the land reform ‘journey’, ministers are either unable or unwilling to listen to consistently voiced concerns that much of the Bill just will not work in practice. Instead, they seem determined to plough on with measures which won’t deliver the government’s stated outcomes and will create harm for people, jobs and nature.
Government playing estate agent
Take the decision to make every land sale from holdings above 1,000 hectares subject to state permission, with the government responsible for engaging with anyone interested in buying. This, combined with the potential for ministers to force land to be sold off in lots on an unclear basis, has raised real concerns across the rural sector. Questions about the use of public funds to enable the government to play estate agent have been brushed aside. Is this really what the public want government to do?
Ministers are also driving through proposals to require some estates and farms to produce public land management plans. On one level, this could be a good development in terms of transparency.
However, there are fears the proposals are growing arms and legs and could lead to landowners being heavily punished for not setting out their stalls in sufficient detail. They could face unnecessary costs and bureaucracy on top of the ever-increasing price of just doing business. In addition, fines of up to £40,000 could be imposed for breaching community engagement measures – a punishment that seems totally unjustified and out of proportion to the supposed ‘crime’.
It’s almost laughable, if it were not serious, that the Scottish Government wants new laws holding landowners to account with land management plans while its own ministers have been accused of failing to have any kind of plan for the estate they bought at Glen Prosen in Angus to plant more trees. Do as I say, not as I do?
Landlords put off renting land
In the part of the Bill relating to agricultural tenancies, provisions were included to change existing contractual agreements to make it more difficult and expensive for landlords take back control of a part of the land during the tenancy, known in the industry as resumption. The farming sector saw this as being unworkable and put forward what it believed was a better solution only to see it rejected because of an objection from the Scottish Tenant Farmers’ Association (STFA). The Cabinet Secretary can still rectify this in the Bill’s final stage, otherwise we will be left with a situation where already worried landlords are further disincentivised from letting land.
It does seem the STFA is now placing its land reform agenda ahead of the interests of farmers as it has signed up to a coalition of organisations demanding even more swingeing land reform laws. Some members of this coalition have been pursuing an agenda that can only be described as anti-farming, favouring the replacement of farms with eco-tourism and trees, and calling for land taxes targeted at agricultural practices, in particular food production. I suppose when it comes to land reform, my enemy’s enemy is my friend.
Not only are we in the throes of another extensive land reform Bill, there is another one waiting in the wings, this time re-examining community rights to buy. Whilst there’s a clear need for some technical improvements, it would have made far more sense to do this without adding new rights through this Bill.
Land reform not big issue for public
This obsession with land reform flies in the face of public attitudes. The government’s own research shows only 17 per cent see it as a priority, and research by the Diffley Partnership showed the priorities of rural people are what most people want – good schools, excellent hospitals, job creation, efficient public transport etc. The Scotsman’s own intrepid reporter Katharine Hay gave an interesting insight earlier this year when she told a conference that of the many issues discussed, no one had raised land reform during her ‘Hay’s Way’ travels around Scotland.
Successive Scottish administrations know landowners and land-based businesses have adapted to a new post-devolution era of land reform. Many communities who wished to acquire or take control of land and properties have done so – with or without legislation. It is an inconvenient truth for many land reformists that, in many parts of Scotland, there is simply not the demand for radical changes in land ownership which, we know from experience, comes with its own responsibilities and challenges.
Community engagement has been transformed and will undoubtedly evolve – and that is no bad thing. Landowners, farmers and rural businesses want to play their part in delivering a successful Scotland.
However, if we remain bogged down in a narrow debate solely about ownership – when the most important priority is how best land can deliver for the greater good, we’ll never make real progress in making rural Scotland thrive.
As we head towards another land reform Bill passing, it is not too late to make changes to at least make it workable. Along with many others, I urge the powers that be to focus on damage control and get this Bill out of the ideological maze.
Patrick Colquhoun is assistant chief executive of Luss Estates Company and vice-chair of Scottish Land and Estates
Comments