The Scottish Government introduced the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill ("the Bill") to Parliament on Thursday 14 March 2024. For detailed analysis on what is proposed in the Bill, please click here.
The Bill is currently with the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee (the "NZET Committee") at Stage 1 of the legislative process. It is up to the NZET Committee to consider and report to Parliament on the general principles of the Bill - the finer detail of the Bill will be dealt with at a later stage.
The NZET Committee have been gathering evidence from experts, organisations, and members of the public who have an interest in the Bill. In terms of the next steps, the NZET Committee will require to provide a report to Parliament bringing together the evidence obtained and it will provide its own view of the Bill. The Stage 1 report usually makes a recommendation about whether Parliament should support the general principles of the Bill.
Following the Stage 1 Report, Parliament will debate the general principles of the Bill and MSPs will vote on it. If a majority of MSPs agree with the principles of the Bill, the Bill will move to Stage 2 of the legislative process. If a majority of MSPs vote against the Bill, the Bill will ‘fall’ and will go no further through the legislative process.
Parliament have agreed a motion that Stage 1 of the Bill must be completed by 28 March 2025.
Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment summary for the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill
The Scottish Government recently published their Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment summary for the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill ("the FSD Summary").
The Fairer Scotland Duty is a legal responsibility placed on certain public bodies in Scotland (including the Scottish Government) to actively consider and pay due regard to how they can reduce inequalities of outcome caused by socio-economic disadvantage, when making strategic decisions.
In broad terms, ‘socio-economic disadvantage’ means living on a low income compared to others in Scotland, with little or no accumulated wealth, leading to greater material deprivation. Socio-economic disadvantage can be experienced in both places and communities of interest. The aim of the duty is to consider and have regard to reducing poverty and inequalities of outcome, helping to realise the rights of the people who have experienced them and to make the lives of people experiencing socio-economic disadvantage measurably better.
As part of the FSD Summary research evidence and stakeholder evidence was gathered to assess the potential impact of the Bill on socio-economic disadvantage.
In relation to the Land Reform measures, some stakeholders have questioned whether the proposals will have any impact on some of the most disadvantaged areas of Scotland given that they are concerned only with rural issues and exclude urban and peri-urban areas. However, while high level poverty statistics indicate lower levels of poverty in rural areas it is acknowledged that there are unique challenges faced by rural communities. A full copy of the Assessment can be found here.
Stakeholder engagement will continue to take place throughout the development of the Bill and consideration will continue to be given to the socio-economic impacts of the Bill.
Next Steps for the Bill
If MSPs vote in favour of the Bill at Stage 1, the Bill will progress to Stage 2 of the legislative process. At Stage 2, MSPs will be able to propose amendments to the Bill. It is possible for Stage 2 of the Bill to take a number of weeks before the Bill then proceeds to Stage 3 of the legislative process. Stage 3 is the final stage whereby all MSPs can vote on whether or not to pass the Bill. Given that there is still some way to go in terms of the legislative process, it looks as though it will be well into next year before we see what the final version of the Bill is going to look like. In the meantime, we will continue to follow the progress of the Bill at each of the various stages.
Contributor
Senior Associate
