Dr Calum Macleod, from the UHI Centre for Mountain Studies, Tim Braunholtz-Speight and Dr Isse Macphail, from the University of the Highlands and Islands, and Derek Flyn, Sarah Allen and David Macleod, from Rural Analysis Associates, talk about land reform in Scotland. The Whose Economy? seminars, organised by Oxfam Scotland and the University of the West of Scotland, brought together experts to look at recent changes in the Scottish economy and their impact on Scotland's most vulnerable communities. Held over winter and spring 2010-11 in Edinburgh, Inverness, Glasgow and Stirling, the series posed the question of what economy is being created in Scotland and, specifically, for whom? To find out more and view other Whose Economy? papers, presentations and videos visit: http://www.oxfamblogs.org/ukpovertypost/whose-economy-seminar-series-winter-2010-spring-2011/

1. Whose Economy?
UWS and Oxfam Seminar Series
Whose Environment?
25th March 2011, Inverness College UHI
Post-legislative Scrutiny of the
Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003
Calum Macleod, Tim Braunholtz-Speight, Issie Macphail,
Derek Flyn, Sarah Allen and Davie Macleod
1

2. Context
Land Reform (Scotland) Act passed in 2003
• Part One - outdoor access rights and
responsibilities
• Part Two - community right to buy
• Part Three - crofting community right to buy
Scottish Parliament Rural Affairs and
Environment Committee
• looking at “post-legislative scrutiny” of the Act
• This report a first stage in that process

3. Methods
• Expert interviews
• Online surveys
- Local Access Fora, National Access Forum, Local Authorities;
- community groups with various experiences of the Act, and
those who have purchased outwith
• Semi-structured interviews
- Similar range to surveys
• Secondary data
- e.g. Scottish Government data on Right to Buy registrations

4. Part One - Outdoor Access
Largely working well….
“The LRSA has assisted in the resolution of local
access disputes between access-takers and land
managers”
Local Access Forum members (N=80)

5. Outdoor Access
• perception that the legislation has
gradually improved relations between
access-takers and land managers.
• Core paths planning has raised the profile
of access issues within Local Authorities
and encouraged community engagement
and constructive dialogue between
stakeholders.

6. Outdoor Access
…with some reservations…
• concerns about funding and maintenance of
Core Paths
• Fears that financial risk is deterring Access
Authorities from pursuing access cases in the
courts
• Hotspot issues remain i.e. Irresponsible
camping, fire lighting and inadequate control of
dogs

7. Outdoor access
Suggestions for change?
• There appears to be relatively little
appetite amongst access stakeholders for
significant changes to specific provisions
in the Act or in relation to the Scottish
Outdoor Access Code.

8. Part Two - Community Right to Buy
Image from www.alistairmcintosh.com

9. Community Right to Buy - Uptake

10. Community Right to Buy
One the one hand:
• Has been used
• Across Scotland
• Has led to land transfers
But:
• Less impact than anticipated
• Most land transfers were “late” registrations
• Most land transfers involve public bodies as
landowners

11. Community Right to Buy -
acquisitions of public bodies‟ land

12. Community Right to Buy
Maybe greatest impact was before it was
passed?
“Having land reform on the agenda created a good
bargaining environment. Not just the Act but the
broader debates and discussions. It was a good
climate. Estates did not want to appear unreasonable
against that wider background … [but] the Act has
raised expectations that aren„t fulfilled (Interview 3)”

13. Community Right to Buy
Barriers to uptake
Community groups had various reasons for
avoiding using the Act:
• Registering an interest does not force a
sale
• Administrative burden
• Political risk - fear of disrupting relations
with local landowners
• Combination of the above = “not worth it”

14. Community Right to Buy and
community relations
Using the Act can be risky for community groups:
• “happiness in using it depends how remote the landowner feels to
the community (absentee or state body possibly). A community
would be reluctant to use the Act against a local farmer who has
been previously friendly and co-operative for example. Even if a
landowner near the community is unfriendly and unco-operative,
using the Act against them can lead to a lifetime of obstruction and
pettiness which is unproductive”
Land reform outwith the Act might be more attractive:
• “we have been able to purchase a piece of land without resorting to
"aggressive" assertion of our rights. This is beneficial for community
relations with local landowners”
Therefore:
• “treating late registrations as exceptions is the major flaw in the
Act… the current view - that communities will proactively register an
interest in land when it is not for sale - is either naïve, or suggests
that the Act is not genuinely designed to encourage community
ownership.”

15. Community Right to Buy
Some suggestions for change from
community groups
• Simpler and more flexible administrative
requirements and definitions - iron out various
perceived oddities and inconsistencies
• Treat “late” registrations as normal - see the Act
as an “emergency” tool
• Promote the Act more and fund it better

16. Part Three - Crofting Community
Right to Buy
Very limited uptake
• 2 applications to use
• 1 group used it in negotiations but purchased
land outwith the Act (Galson Estate Trust)
• 1 group actively pursuing full use at present
(Pairc Trust) - seen as a “test case”
• Some other crofting community land purchases
cite Act as helpful - but purchase outwith the Act
seen as quicker and simpler

17. Crofting Community Right to Buy
Barriers to uptake and suggestions for change
• Complex and costly administrative requirements
- esp mapping
• Legal uncertainty - current case involving
disputes over European Convention on Human
Rights…
• Simplification the major call for change
• Fear that otherwise Part Three may become
defunct as “unworkable”

18. So what next?
Roseanna Cunningham 21st March:
• “After serious scrutiny and deliberation, the complex issues
surrounding the Trust's application have now been fully analysed
and I can grant approval for The Pairc Trust to go ahead to
purchase the land.
"The plans the Trust has should help inject new life into the area,
rejuvenate the economy and boost the fortunes of all those who
live, work and visit this spectacular part of our country.
"I wish them good fortune in raising the money required to
purchase the estate and every success in shaping their own
destiny."

19. So what next?
Roseanna Cunningham 7th March:
• "It is important that there continues to be an on-going dialogue, that
lessons are learned and new approaches considered.
• "The vast majority of stakeholders who provided evidence to the
researchers of the report were positive about the community right to buy
and the crofting community right to buy. However, there were a number of
criticisms, particularly in relation to their complexity and their limited
flexibility.
• "This is an opportune time to review the legislation relating to these rights
with the intention of making things easier and faster to negotiate .
• "Community groups should not have to negotiate unnecessary red tape to
get them through these rights to buy. Equally, the legislation has to be
transparent, legally sound and compliant with the European Convention of
Human Rights.
• "I am pleased to note that the access provisions in the Act appear to be
working well"

20. Watch this space…
Rural Affairs and Environment Committee letter to the
Minister (Roseanna again)
• The Committee is clear that solving the main problems
identified in the report is not simply a matter of improving
the administration of both sets of right to buy provisions
in the 2003 Act. There are parts of the Act itself that
need to be amended . We are interested to note that this
was also your view when you appeared before the
Committee, and that you indicated that there was likely
to be a Government review in the near future. We hope
this work will be taken forward by the next
administration. We also hope, and expect, that there
would be extensive consultation with stakeholders as
part of it.

21. Read more:
Full report and Executive Summary
available from:
• Rural Affairs and Environment Committee
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/rae/curren
tInquiries.htm
• CRRS
http://www.crrs.uhi.ac.uk/publications/reports/reports-and-
other-papers

22. To view all the papers in the Whose
Economy series click here
To view all the videos and presentations
from the seminars click here