Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: equality impact assessment

Equality Impact Assessment for the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill

Title of policy:

Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill

Summary of aims and desired outcomes of policy:

Crofting

Crofting is at the heart of communities across many parts of the Highlands and Islands, in Argyll, the Hebrides, the Highlands and Northern Isles. Crofters across these areas are cultivating land, tending livestock, diversifying into alternative land-based businesses, protecting the environment and biodiversity, playing a full part in their local communities, and maintaining the areas’ heritage and culture. However, the crofting system needs to adapt to changing circumstances, to allow crofting to continue to thrive.

The Bill aims to support the sustainability of crofting, of crofters and crofting communities, and provide legislation that will allow crofting to modernise, innovate, and diversify.

The Bill will simplify legislation, streamline administrative processes, and make regulation less onerous for active crofters and the Crofting Commission. The Bill also aims to bolster and strengthen the role of Grazing Committees, giving them and individual shareholders more options for proposing environmental initiatives on common grazings.

The Bill will also give additional powers to the Crofting Commission with which to resolve issues for individual crofters or crofting communities, in particular the power to award owner-occupier status when it is merited.

Scottish Land Court/Tribunals

The Bill will provide for the amalgamation of the Scottish Land Court and the Lands Tribunal for Scotland, into a newly expanded Scottish Land Court. The newly merged body will offer structural coherence, efficiency and the delivery of a better service to litigants. Members of the Land Court and Lands Tribunal will be able to hear all cases which come before the newly expanded Scottish Land Court, which will allow for a flexible deployment of personnel and resources to ensure the efficient administration of justice.

The Bill will also enable suitably qualified members of the merged Court to act in the Upper Tribunal. The purpose of this is to allow for flexible deployment of judicial resource and assist in managing fluctuations in case volumes in the Upper Tribunal.

Directorate: Agriculture and Rural Economy / Justice

Division: Agriculture Policy Division / Civil Law and Legal System

Team: Crofting Policy and Legislation / Civil Courts and Inquiries / Tribunals