Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: islands community impact assessment

Introduction

The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 places a duty on the Scottish Ministers and other relevant authorities, including a number of public authorities, to have regard to island communities in exercising their functions, and for the Scottish Ministers this also includes the development of legislation.

Testing a policy for how it could impact on island communities should be an ongoing process. This has been the case for the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill.

This Island Communities Impact Assessment sets out the findings of this testing in respect of any significant difference between the Bill’s effect on an island community and its effect on other communities.

The Island Communities Impact Assessment on the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill has been split into two parts:

1. the Land Reform proposals in the Bill; and

2. the Land Management Tenancy, Agricultural Holdings, and Small Landholdings proposals in the Bill

Each part will be covered in turn.