This bill was introduced into the Scottish Parliament in March, delayed from 2023. It largely relates to reform of agricultural tenancies but 25% relates to land reform.
According to the Scottish Greens, who are part of the government (https://greens.scot/land-reform-faq):
The Bill introduces measures in the following key areas:
- Ministers will have the power to break up large land holdings when they come up for sale, if it is deemed to be in the public interest. Sale of land holdings >1000 hectares will be prohibited until Scottish Ministers have considered the impact on the local community. This could lead to such large land holdings being put up for sale in smaller lots.
- Communities will be given advance notice of their right to buy lots up for sale. Communities will be given advanced notice of sales of certain large land holdings – this will empower them to purchase lots through Community Right to Buy laws. This could bring more land into community ownership and put to use for the wider benefit of the community.
- Large landowners must produce Land Management Plans, through engagement with the local community, to deliver actions to meet net zero targets and benefit communities. Landowners will also need to consider community requests to lease land. A new post of Land and Communities Commissioner will also be established to independently support the creation and implementation of land management plans.
- A new type of tenancy will be created, which encourages more diverse use of Scotland’s land. Land Management Tenancies will create a new option for tenant farmers who want to do more than just agricultural activity on their land, encouraging sustainable and regenerative farming practices which brings nature restoration, forestry and rewilding together with food production.
Many land reform campaigners are very critical. According to Andy Wightman:
- The Bill leaves a lot of important detail to worked out later in secondary legislation. This is not an ideal approach.
- The Bill does not include important recommendations from the Scottish Land Commission nor does it implement many of the proposals raised in the consultation. There is no Public Interest test, no strengthening of the Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement, and no restrictions on land ownership to EU and UK registered entities for example.
- Given the scope of coverage of the proposals, the nature of the land market in Scotland, the complexities of the Right to Buy and the absence of a Public Interest test, the Bill is unlikely to have any meaningful impact on the pattern of landownership in Scotland.
See: https://andywightman.scot/2024/03/land-reform-scotland-bill-1-2/
Land Reform legislation depends on the political will to implement it. According to many, the Scottish government has not shown this will. It all looks good on paper, as if they are challenging the concentration of private ownership, but very little is likely to happen.
Private landowners have a huge amount of power, and that includes the new ‘green’ lairds. They can easily argue that they are managing land for the public good. For example, Seafield and Strathspey Estates argued that land concentration is not a bad thing, as it may lead to more efficient management. Seafield and Strathspey Estates is a 35,000 ha (86,000 acres) enterprise which includes salmon beats on the River Spey, and is managed on behalf of the family of the Earl of Seafield. It said landowners were being blamed for the inefficiencies of local and central government. “There is a myth presented by individuals sponsoring land reform in Scotland that ‘too many acres are owned by too few individuals.’ It may be true that ‘many acres are owned by few individuals’ but there is very little evidence presented to show that this is a bad thing”.
The organisation representing Scotland’s private land owners, pays lip service to compliance with the spirit of the reforms. On the website of Scottish Land and Estates, they have set out a Landowners’ Commitment, setting out “good practice for landowners on how they can continue to operate their businesses, while contributing to the public good. It is flexible according to the nature and scale of individual situations, and can be used for all types and sizes of landholding.” See: https://www.scottishlandandestates.co.uk/about-us/landowners-commitment
The Scottish government, including the Greens, seem happy to believe the landowners, trusting them to do the right thing by the public. This can be seen in the watered down proposals in the 2024 Bill as well as the luke-warm implementation of the reforms so far.
Who owns the land matters!
Community Land Scotland, representing community landowners, who make up close to 3% of total land holdings, is highly critical of the government’s land reforms initiatives and has launched its own campaign for radical land reform. “Scotland’s experience of land reform is often described as a journey, if that is the case then our journey is stalling and all but ground to a halt. Community ownership of land has flat lined since 2016/17 when the last piece of Land Reform legislation was introduced – only 16 hectares of land went into community ownership in 2021/22. Less than 3% of Scotland’s land is in community ownership and patterns of private landownership remain highly concentrated. Progress has slowed dramatically because the existing legislation is not working and soaring land prices make ownership the preserve of a privileged elite.” https://www.communitylandscotland.org.uk/scotlands-land-reform-journey-is-stalling/#:~:text=Less%20than%203%25%20of%20Scotland’s,private%20landownership%20remain%20highly%20concentrated.
They have no time for the rhetoric of landowners who claim to be operating in the public interest when in fact profit is their main motive and everything they do is a public relations exercise. Who owns the land matters! Only community ownership will ensure that land is managed for the public god- both the community and the environment.
https://www.communitylandscotland.org.uk/land-reform-campaign
People's Land Policy 