The SNP’s victory in the Scottish Parliamentary election earlier this month was entirely predictable. However, the party’s failure to win an overall Parliamentary majority makes the course it will chart on land reform as a minority Government less so.
A good deal of the SNP’s manifesto offer on land reform reiterated commitments linked to the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016, passed at the very end of the previous Parliamentary session. In practical terms that means establishing a Scottish Land Commission, publishing a Scottish Land Rights and Responsibilities statement, creating a mandatory public register of controlling interests in landowners or tenants and implementing a new community right to buy to further sustainable development. It also means implementing the deeply contentious Agricultural Holdings provisions in Part 10 of the 2016 Act. Continue reading
Beyond the Horizon 