The Scottish Government's consultation onits "land rights and responsibilities statement" is closing on 10 March 2017.
By way of some background, part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 obliges the Scottish Ministers to prepare,consult onand publish a land rights and responsibilities statement.The 2016 Act also contains a list of factors which the Scottish Ministers must take into account when preparing the statement. The factorsincludepromoting human rights, supporting and facilitating community empowerment and increasing the diversity of land ownership.
Draft Statement
The consultation paper includesa draft statement which consists of six principles, each of which are summarised below:
- the overall framework of land rights and responsibilities should contribute towards building a fairer society
- there should be increasingly diverse land ownership and tenure
- more local communities should be given opportunities to own land and buildings
- holders of land rights should recognise their responsibilities and act as stewards of Scotland's land resources
- information on land should be publicly available,clear and detailed
- there should be wider community engagement in decisions about land
Whilst the principles are broad in nature, they give us a strong indication of the directionof any future land reform.However, it is perhaps worth noting that the2016 Act obliges the Scottish Ministers to promote the principles when exercising their functions (in far as reasonably practicable). It seems that theprinciples could berelevantto anydecisionstaken by the Scottish Ministers,not just when it comes to making legislative proposals for future land reform.
The consultation asks for views on each of the draft principles. The draft principlesmay of coursebe subject to change once the consultation responses have been analysed.The timeframe for publication of the final statement is not yet known.
If you have any queries about the land rights and responsibilities statement or land reform in general, please get in touch with your usual contact in the Land and Rural Business team.
