Updates to the land rights and responsibilities statement

The Scottish Government has recently published its updated Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement (LRRS), five years after the original statement was first released.

What is the LRRS?

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (the 2016 Act) placed an obligation on the Scottish Ministers to prepare and publish the LRRS, being a "statement of principles for land rights and responsibilities in Scotland". The LRRS applies to all land, urban and rural, and to everyone in Scotland.

The Scottish Ministers must promote the principles in the LRRS when exercising their functions, so far as this is reasonably practicable. The Scottish Ministers must also review the LRRS every five years in order to ensure that it remains relevant to Scotland's current land issues. Under the 2016 Act, specific aspects must be considered when developing the LRRS including respecting human rights, supporting and facilitating community empowerment and furthering sustainable development in relation to land.

The 2017 LRRS

Following consultation with stakeholders and the public, the LRRS was produced in September 2017 which consisted of a vision and six principles.

The Scottish Government's stated vision was that Scotland should have a "strong and dynamic relationship between its land and people, where all land contributes to a modern and successful country, and where rights and responsibilities in relation to land are fully recognised and fulfilled".

The six principles were as follows:

1. The overall framework of land rights, responsibilities and public policies should promote, fulfil and respect relevant human rights in relation to land, contribute to public interest and wellbeing, and balance public and private interests. The framework should support sustainable economic development, protect and enhance the environment, help achieve social justice and build a fairer society.
2. There should be a more diverse pattern of land ownership and tenure, with more opportunities for citizens to own, lease and have access to land.
3. More local communities should have the opportunity to own, lease or use buildings and land which can contribute to their community's wellbeing and future development.
4. The holders of land rights should exercise these rights in ways that take account of their responsibilities to meet high standards of land ownership, management and use. Acting as the stewards of Scotland's land resource for future generations they contribute to sustainable growth and a modern, successful country.
5. There should be improved transparency of information about the ownership, use and management of land, and this should be publicly available, clear and contain relevant detail.
6. There should be greater collaboration and community engagement in decisions about land.

The stated aims of the LRRS were to inform the development of Government policy; to encourage and support others with significant responsibilities over land to consider how decision-making powers could contribute to realising the vision in the statement; and to encourage the people of Scotland to recognise their responsibilities.

What changes have been made to the LRRS?

A consultation took place in late 2021 and early 2022, which invited responses from the public and stakeholders on the vision and principles of the LRRS. It also asked for comments on whether there were clear mechanisms for implementing the LRRS. The Scottish Government noted the importance of considering Scotland's current land issues and the changes in Scotland and around the world since the publication of the first LRRS in 2017, including the impact of Brexit and COVID-19. Themes such as "supporting a just transition to net zero" and "natural capital" were also discussed.

Following the consultation, an independent analysis of responses was published in May 2022 and the new vision and principles were released on 28 November 2022. The updated version of the LRRS can be found here:

The main amendments were as follows:

1. The new vision statement recognises the role of land in achieving a just transition to net zero and effectively managing our natural capital. It provides that:

"Scotland should have a strong and dynamic relationship between its land and people, where all land contributes to a modern, sustainable and successfully country, supports a just transition to net zero, and where rights and responsibilities in relation to land and its capital are fully recognised and fulfilled".

The Scottish Government defined a 'just transition' in the Consultation paper to mean "reaching a net zero and climate resilient economy, in a way that delivers fairness and tackles inequality and injustice".

2. Principle 1 of the LRRS also now refers to a "just transition to net zero". It provides as follows:

The overall framework of land rights, responsibilities and public policies should promote, fulfil and respect relevant human rights in relation to land, contribute to public interest and wellbeing, and balance public and private interests. The framework should support sustainable economic development, protect and enhance the environment, support a just transition to net zero, help achieve social justice and build a fairer society for the common good

3. A new principle (now principle 5) has been introduced. It provides that that "Land ownership, management and use should deliver a wide range of social, environmental, economic and cultural benefits".

Emma Cooper, Head of the Land Rights and Responsibilities at the Scottish Land Commission explained that this means that "landowners, managers and users should consider the wider impact of their decisions and how they will impact on others. There is a need to own, use and manage land in a way that recognises multiple and inter- connected benefits it provides".

4. Principle 4 has been updated so that it now provides that holders of land rights should contribute "to wider public benefit" (as well as sustainable growth, and a modern, successful country).

5. Principle 6 has been amended to provide that there should be "transparency about the ownership, use and management of land", rather than "improved transparency".

6. Principle 7 now provides that there should be "meaningful collaboration and community engagement" rather than "greater collaboration and community engagement " in decisions about land.

The Scottish Government highlighted that the new "statement reflects the times in which we now live". The themes of "supporting a just transition" and managing "natural capital" are consistent with the Scottish Government's policies relating to land reform.

Is there a legal duty to comply with the LRRS?

The 2016 Act describes the LRRS as a "statement of principles", not legal duties. Currently, it does not create any legal rights or obligations on individuals.

However, this may change if the Scottish Government decide to take forward the proposals set out in their recent consultation on Land Reform in a New Zero Nation. The consultation proposes that owners of large-scale landholdings should have a legal duty to comply with the LRSS (going beyond a duty to simply have regard to it) and its associated protocols. We commented on these proposals in a previous blog.

It remains to be seen whether the proposals will be introduced by the Scottish Government. Given the broad terms of the LRRS, it seems likely that a detailed review of the content would be required if the intention is to impose a legal duty on the owners of large-scale landholdings to comply with the statement.