​Civil servants told – try the Shucksmith Report

Civil servants from the Scottish Government were in the islands this week as part of a public consultation on the Crofting Law Reform proposals, with the hope of a new Bill being introduced in this parliamentary term. Meetings were held in Stornoway on Monday evening, in Harris on Tuesday, in Balivanich on Wednesday and in Barra tonight (Thursday).

At the meeting in Stornoway, the civil servants who drafted the proposals and are leading the consultation – Bill Barron, former chief executive of the Crofting Commission and Michael Nugent, head of crofting policy – explained that the suggested changes were deliberately kept to a minimum to keep it straight-forward as that had the best chance of securing ministerial approval.

They highlighted two key factors in the proposals: joint tenancies where two people can pool their resources to get a croft and that a croft tenancy can be used as collateral to secure commercial loans for its purchase, something that’s not currently possible.

Mr Nugent, who described this as a “positive step”, said they were involved in discussions with banking industry representatives but said that “we would not have put this forward if we did not believe we could make provision for it”.

The Stornoway meeting was attended by up to 30 members of the public - most if not all of whom were active crofters - and while there was some support for the proposals as set out, there was real concern over the crucial elements that were not addressed.

Agnes Rennie, chair of the crofting community estate, Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn, said: “What we have seen over the years with crofting legislation is tinkering at the edges and I fear this is what we are seeing again when what we need is proper reform.”

Carola Bell, a fellow director of UOG, added: “The biggest issue is that young people cannot get access to a croft because of the prices they are sold at. What are you going to do about that?”

Donald MacKinnon, a director of the Scottish Crofting Federation, said: “What we hear again and again is that people are not happy because crofts are changing hands for a lot of money. We haven’t seen anything that tries to address that. These proposals do nothing to try and regulate that market.”

Bill Barron said that from his seven years spent as chief executive of the Crofting Commission he recognised it was a “huge, huge issue”. “The truth is we haven’t had that debate (on controls),” he added.

Michael Nugent said that the original proposals they drafted included provisions for a cap on the price of crofts “but we were told by the lawyers that it was unworkable”.

He added: “You have to remember that when it comes to selling crofts, it is crofters that are selling those crofts.”

Intrinsic to the issue of who is able to buy a croft is how it is put to use. In theory, all crofters have to submit a plan to the Commission and ensure they follow their duties over land management.

However, as one member of the audience pointed out: “It is nothing but a paper exercise. Anyone can put anything they like on a form in the knowledge that it’s unlikely the commission is actually going to check or do anything about it.

“At the moment there is a reliance that common grazing committees and other crofters report breaches of duty. But that’s fundamentally flawed and completely unfair. You are pitting neighbour against neighbour and it’s no way to run a regulatory system.

“There is also the issue of purposeful use. Someone can grow a couple of potatoes in a corner of a five-hectare croft and say it’s being put to purposeful use, but it’s no such thing. Until you address the issue of regulation, you are not going to get the reform that’s needed.”

Mr Barron and Mr Nugent insisted that they were open to suggestions, that this was a consultation, but that proposed changes had to be realistic in terms of what ministers would be able, or prepared, to accept. The intention, said Mr Nugent, was “to introduce a Bill in this parliamentary term, but that’s not confirmed as yet”.

Mrs Rennie said: “I have to say I’m not at all reassured by what I’m hearing.”

Mr Barron said that while the issue of croft sales and the market was understood and had been talked about by crofters for some time there was “no coherent vision” of how it can be addressed.

“If I can suggest some reading to you, try the Shucksmith Report,” said Mrs Rennie.

That was seen by many as a critical missed opportunity to defend the crofting system as it called for a stricter regime on croft sales and land use and the decentralisation of the Commission.

“These proposals were put in a drawer because they upset too many people, but I have to say they didn’t upset large swathes of the crofting community here,” said Mrs Rennie.

David Cameron from Harris drew on changes to the Land Reform Bill, where future estate sales will be subject to a public interest test. “Perhaps there should be a crofting community public interest test and if the new tenant fails that test the sale should fail,” he said.

The consultation runs till 2nd September.

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