Crofting: national development plan

The Crofting Commission’s Role in The Development of Crofting

In July 2020, the Scottish Government announced an increase in funding for the Commission to enable it to expand its activities of promoting and developing crofting and, as part of this, to establish four permanent Commission jobs in the Western Isles. Furthermore, in 2021, the Scottish Government announced an increase in the Crofting Commission's core budget. This demonstrates the long-term commitment by the Scottish Government and the Commission to the future role of crofting in rural life.

The Commission is using part of this funding to expand its Residency and Land Use team and to establish new development posts in Stornoway and Benbecula. The overall aim of the latter posts is to support the strengthening and diversification of crofting in the Western Isles as well as across the Highlands and Islands as a whole. The new officers will liaise with crofting communities to encourage croft occupancy, croft use and management of common grazings. They will work closely with local assessors and will liaise with landlords and townships to encourage opportunities for new entrants and diversification of crofting activities, including initiatives to help combat climate change.

This role will help build local relations and create a greater understanding of the Commission's role within the crofting community, enabling the Commission to develop new and better ways of working with key crofting communities. It is anticipated that this blueprint may be replicated in other crofting areas in the future. Other posts in the Western Isles will be similar to existing Commission posts in Inverness, and will represent the first step towards a greater spread of administrative or regulatory posts across the crofting counties.

In 2022, the Commission will review the benefits and the practical implications of locating development, regulatory and administrative posts in the Western Isles, with a view to establishing whether it is desirable to identify remote posts in other parts of the crofting counties.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with the Commission, will create new Commission jobs. The first stage, in 2020/21, will see two additional development posts in the Western Isles, additional residency and land use officers in the Western Isles and Inverness, and an administrative assistant in the Western Isles.

Common Grazings

For many years there has been a decline in the use of common grazing land for livestock grazing. The Scottish Government and the Commission, in agreement with the Stakeholder Forum, regard the shared management and beneficial use of common grazing to be essential for the sustainability and development of crofting.

Since 2018, the Commission has increased its work with crofting communities and grazings committees to strengthen this aspect of the crofting system. As part of this work, the Commission has produced a standard template for grazings regulations with common grazing guidance that addresses the questions most often raised by townships. It has also held grazing workshops in partnership with the Farm Advisory Service. Many grazings committees function very well and each committee requires the necessary flexibility to address local circumstances and to manage its common grazing in a way they deem fit.

Active grazings committees are the best way to ensure that common grazings are used effectively. The Commission has taken action to reverse the decline in the number of common grazings that have a committee in office by providing support and advice to townships without an active committee, or whose committees are due to stand down. As a result of this action the number of grazings committees in office rose from 418 in 2019 to 495 in 2020, and there is scope for this to increase further.

Across the crofting counties there are approximately 550,000 hectares^[4] of common grazing land, approximately two-thirds of all croft land. Low density high nature livestock grazing is still the principal activity by crofters on many common grazings. There are many benefits to sheep and cattle grazing in upland areas. Livestock grazing protects, and can enhance, biodiversity, reduces invasive species and lessens the risk of wildfires. The Scottish Government will continue to support the sustainable use of common grazings by livestock.

However, the ways in which this land is used is evolving. If common grazing land is to maximise potential benefits and continue to add benefit to the crofting system, crofting needs committees in office. Furthermore, it is necessary for those committees to be empowered to take action to ensure that the land is being put to active use and that degraded habitats are restored. Diversification of croft and common grazings presents options for crofters who may benefit from multiple forms of land usage.

Crofters and crofting as a whole will benefit from knowing the extent to which common grazing land is being claimed through support, and which grazing shares remain underused or inactive. The Scottish Government aims to ensure funding schemes support both agriculture, climate change and environmental initiatives. The Scottish Government will make information available to the Commission on common grazings that are in receipt of financial support.

The Commission will continue to support grazings committees by providing guidance and training, and helping to resolve any issues, and working with townships to secure accurate lists of shareholders. In addition, beginning in the Western Isles, Commission staff will develop closer relationships with grazings committees that wish to expand or diversify their activities.

The Commission recognises that collaboration between landowners (including community landowners), crofters and grazings committees is an important part of diversifying land use. Innovations that are agreed and supported by all parties, will result in far fewer barriers to progress. In the long-term, the balance of rights in statute may need to be reconsidered to ensure that initiatives, either by a landlord or a crofting community, will be encouraged.

The Commission will continue to support existing committees and the establishment of new grazings committees to increase active management of common grazings.

The Commission will encourage partnership working between common grazings committees and landlords to encourage diversification of the use of the grazings, including woodland creation and peatland restoration.

Mapping and Registration of Common Grazings

The Commission maintains a Register of Crofts containing basic details about each croft, such as its status, owner(s) and crofter(s). It does not include a map of the croft. The map-based Crofting Register, held by Registers of Scotland, was introduced in 2012 to provide a definitive and current record of the extent of, and interests in, crofts and croft land, which includes common grazings and lands held runrig. The Crofting Register is separate to the Land Register and the Register of Crofts.

Registration of each croft in the Crofting Register is the responsibility of the crofter, who has to pay the charges necessary for the service. Registration is mandatory following trigger events such as the assignation of the croft, and consequently the amount of land in crofting tenure that is registered is increasing over time. By 2020 approximately 30% of all crofts had been mapped and included in the Crofting Register.

Please see the chapter on 'Crofting Register' for more information.

However, only the Commission can apply to register common grazings, and much of the work involved in the preparation of the application falls to the Commission, along with townships and landowners. Over a four-year period between 2012 to 2016 the Commission undertook a grazings registration project which aimed to facilitate the early registration of common grazings. This work culminated in around 330 common grazings being registered, about a third of the total. However, the work was more costly and complex than originally expected.

By spring 2021, the Commission will have conducted a study of the registration of common grazings, in order to review the challenges and achievements of the 2012-2016 project, the complexities of the registration process (including mapping difficulties) and the legislation, and the practical benefits that may have resulted from registration. Following consultation with Registers of Scotland, the Commission will report to the Scottish Government on the way in which this work could best be taken forward. It is the Commission's and the Scottish Government's long-term aim to register all common grazings in the Crofting Register.

By June 2021, the Commission will have reviewed the practicalities and the benefits of common grazings registration, consider when and how the work can be resumed, and report to the Scottish Government with a plan to progress the registration exercise.

New Entrants

Attracting and providing opportunities for new entrants to crofting is critical to its future. For any sector to be sustainable it requires a blend of experience and youth. With new entrants and youth comes new practices, innovation and an enthusiasm that can energise the sector.

There are positive signs that people still want to enter crofting, with evidence suggesting a steady flow of new entrants. The table below shows that from 2019 up until 6 November 2020, there were 827 new entrant tenant crofters and owner-occupier crofters.

Table: New Entrants into Crofting 2019 and 2020 ^[5]

	Women	Men	Not Known	Aged 41 & over	Aged 40 & under	Total
Argyll & Bute	22	25	2	32	17	49
Highland	180	224	5	288	121	409
Orkney	4	7	0	10	1	11
Shetland	40	44	0	59	25	84
Western Isles	118	154	2	185	89	274
Total	364	454	9	574	253	827

It is important that this level of turnover continues and, if possible, increases. The Scottish Government and the Crofting Commission aim to help and encourage new entrants and create opportunities in a number of different ways.

Women:

It is pleasing to note that 44% of new entrants are women and that 32% of new entrants are aged 40 or under. The 2019 final report of the Women in Agriculture Taskforce stated: "The cultural practice of passing on farms, crofts and small holdings to one person, usually the eldest son, was the single largest barrier to women's entry into agriculture identified in the 2017 research."^[6] The gender split in crofting has long been more balanced than in the farming sector, perhaps because assignation of a family croft will often go to the family member, irrespective of gender, who expresses most interest in active crofting. However, women must have as much opportunity to become crofters as men. The Scottish Government is committed to doing everything possible to empower women and address the invisible, cultural and practical barriers faced by women in the crofting community and, more generally, in the farming sector.

Obtaining a Croft:

Croft tenancies traditionally transfer between family members and friends, making it harder for new entrants without a crofting connection to gain access to a croft. However, more crofters than ever are choosing to sell their croft tenancies on the open market. There is a number of reasons for this, including a lack of potential successor, or simply the wish to realise the value of the asset. An individual crofter has the choice to dispose of the croft privately or on the open market.

In certain crofting areas, high prices are realised in the selling of croft tenancies. The Commission cannot reverse the market trend, but it has some powers, at least, to insist that crofts are tenanted or owner-occupied by crofters who will be resident in the locality and will use their croft land for cultivation or another purposeful use. This helps to ensure that crofts are more accessible for those who wish to work them.

Tackling Breaches of Duty:

The Commission will increase its work of addressing absenteeism and bringing crofts back into productive use. It is already engaging with those crofters who have indicated on their annual notice (crofting census) that they are not meeting their duty of being ordinarily resident on, or within 32 kilometres of, their croft. The Commission continues to write to these crofters providing options to resolve the breach, such as assignation or subletting, and is developing plans to expand this work.

In all cases, the existing crofter or owner-occupier crofter is given the opportunity to regularise the position, which can lead ultimately to the croft being made available to a new tenant. In those cases where the crofter or owner-occupier crofter fails to correct the position, the Commission may arrange for the letting itself, and on these occasions the Commission will choose the applicant who appears to have the most to contribute to the crofting community. This valuable work needs to continue. It is imperative for the longer-term sustainability of crofting that crofters are active and compliant with their legislative duties. The Commission will also be following up on those who do not return their annual notice.

There are owned crofts where, the owners are not regarded as owner-occupier crofters in terms of the legislation, and the croft is regarded legally as vacant. Although these owners are not subject to crofting duties, the Commission could take action at any time to require these owners to let the croft to a crofter and would consider doing so where the owner is not living on or close to the croft, is not using the croft, and/or is allowing it to become neglected.

Decrofting Applications:

The Commission has another vital role which indirectly supports opportunities for new entrants, which is to make decisions on decrofting applications. Crofters may apply to decroft part, or all, of their croft land. The Commission's responsibility is to weigh up the benefits of the immediate proposal against the detriment of the long-term loss of croft land, which will inevitably lead to fewer crofting opportunities in the future, especially for new entrants.

It is the Commission's policy that any decrofting application should be for a reasonable purpose, backed up by relevant supporting documentation (such as planning permissions and business plans), and the extent applied to be decrofted should be strictly limited to the footprint of any development. This is to ensure that land is kept within crofting tenure, which is seen as fundamental to the longer-term sustainability of crofting.

Failed Succession:

The Commission also helps to open opportunities for new entrants by acting to resolve failed succession cases, where there would otherwise be no new crofter to take over from one who has deceased, and by working with landowners, including community landowners, who are interested in creating new crofts and common grazings.

Creating New Crofts:

Since 2007, it has been possible to create new crofts, and this presents another way in which the Commission is able to create crofting opportunities for new entrants. The Commission is willing to promote and assist, where possible, landowners or others who wish to do so. The Commission will give particular consideration to the creation of crofting opportunities through the creation of new crofts. The Commission will seek to ensure that the creation of new crofts leads to the retention or development of population and the effective use of land for recognised crofting purposes. It will be considered whether new common grazing will also be required and become available. Applications to create woodland crofts will also be considered within this context.

The Commission will explore new ways to ensure that entry to crofting is more accessible.

The Commission will encourage a culture of succession and turnover of crofts from people who no longer wish to work them, to those who do, creating opportunities for new entrants.

The Commission will continue to work with those crofters who return their annual notice.

In 2021, the Commission will expand its Residency and Land Use work, by:

• Following up on those who do not return their annual notice.
• Taking action on failure to cultivate and neglect of croft land, as well as non-residency.
• Implementing policies to require non-resident owners of vacant crofts to let them.
• Piloting a Land Matching Service to facilitate the transfer of crofts through assignation or sublet.

Succession

Like other parts of the community, crofters are living longer, and in many cases they continue to live in their homes, the croft houses, for many years after they have retired from active crofting. These crofters are not exempt from the responsibility to ensure that their croft land is worked, and this is often arranged informally, with a younger family member working the croft, or the older crofter may decide to decroft the croft house and assign the tenancy of the remaining croft to a younger relative or younger person of their choice. These are important decisions, and agents and solicitors have a vital role in advising older crofters of their options. The Commission will assist by making general information about the options readily available, and by considering, along with local authorities, solicitors and other partners, how the flow of croft land from one generation to the next can be facilitated when so desired. It will always be the choice of an individual tenant whether to assign the croft to another party, including a family member, though new crofters must be able to comply with crofting duties.

For those crofters passing on their croft, or the new entrant starting out, the next steps can be daunting. The appropriate assistance to the outgoing and incoming crofter therefore needs to be in place to reduce impediments to such transfers. There is usually a great deal of help available from other local crofters and from professional agents and advisers. However, it can be difficult to know where to look for initial advice, covering not only crofting law, agriculture and housing issues, but also expert input on social care and social security. The Commission, with its specialist knowledge, will play a coordinating role in this process.

Please see the chapter on 'Signposting' for more information.

Succession planning is also key to creating opportunities for new entrants. Succession is not only about retirement but also about planning for the future, ensuring that crofters and their families and croft businesses are carefully considered. Collectively, we need to encourage and help facilitate early discussion by providing the necessary support mechanisms for crofters to recognise the benefits of planning ahead.

In 2021, the Commission, in consultation with other organisations, will produce information for crofters who are considering passing on their croft. This will include information about their options and the implications of these.

Partnership Working

In planning for its new development role, the Commission has recognised the importance of working in partnership with a wide range of organisations that share the responsibility for supporting communities, population and land use across the Highlands and Islands. As part of this, there will be a stronger connection between the Crofting Commission and the Scottish Government's Rural Payments and Inspections Division (RPID).

The Commission already relies on RPID to report on local inspections of crofts in connection with regulatory casework. For example, an RPID report can be in the form of an 'Area Report' in regard to access, or a 'Grazings Report' on enlargements and improvements. The Commission also works with RPID to support active crofting on the Scottish Government's crofting estates. Having two of the Commission's new posts based at the RPID office in Stornoway, and two based at the RPID office in Benbecula, will provide an opportunity for RPID to build a closer and stronger working relationship with the Commission, and help deliver a more coordinated approach that will benefit all of crofting.

One specific benefit of this collaboration will be the sharing of RPID's Mapping Tool and database with the Commission, so that the Commission can benefit from RPID's mapping information in carrying out its regulatory and other functions. This in turn will reduce the turnaround times in some applications.

The Scottish Government will ensure that there are closer working relations between the Commission and RPID.

Elected and Appointed Commissioners

The Commission's Board is currently made up of six elected commissioners and three appointed commissioners. The six constituencies are the South West Highlands, West Highlands, Shetland, Caithness and Orkney, Western Isles, and East Highlands. The Commission is the only public body in Scotland with the majority of Board members having been elected by the people it serves.

Since the introduction of elections in 2012, every five years, crofters are invited to stand for election as members of the Commission's Board. Crofting is increasingly diverse, and the Scottish Government would like the Commission to reflect that diversity on its Board.

The Scottish Government and the Commission will engage with, and actively encourage applications from, women, young people and minority groups, and Gaelic speakers, for the role of Commissioner and Assessor.

The Commission's elected and appointed Commissioners are collectively responsible for establishing policies, ensuring existing policies are applied as intended, and providing strategic direction to the Commission. Elected Commissioners are not there to represent individual constituents' interests but to bring their knowledge of local crofting issues from their respective constituency areas and use this knowledge to better inform Board considerations of regulatory matters. Election as a Commissioner provides an opportunity for crofters, and those non-crofters nominated by crofters, to play a fundamental role in assisting the Scottish Government in developing and delivering future crofting policies and ensuring that crofting remains sustainable for generations to come. This is especially so with the enhancement of the Commission's resources and increased role in crofting development.

Mairi Mackenzie – Crofter and Crofting Commission Elected Commissioner for West Highlands.

"Elected in March 2017, I found myself surrounded by a mountain of policy, business plans, and Board and strategy meetings. You can imagine it was rather different to my life on the croft.

3 ½ years on, my commitment to crofting is stronger than ever. I have an insight into the working of the Crofting Commission which is tasked with regulating crofting. It is a complex system, yet the ultimate aim in our decision-making is to both promote and protect the interests of crofting.

Being a Commissioner has given me the opportunity to be directly involved in talks regarding changes in legislation, setting policy, and taking decisions on difficult regulatory applications which must be approved or refused at a higher level.

An enjoyable aspect of my role as Commissioner is working with experienced staff who have such an in-depth knowledge of regulation and legislation, whether it be round the table talks with crofting landlords, their agents and crofters, meeting up with crofters on the ground, or just being available to answer crofters' queries, they provide invaluable support to Commissioners".

The role of an appointed Commissioner is very similar to that of an elected Commissioner. All Commissioners share in the decision-making on regulatory applications, in developing the Commission's policies and strategic priorities, and in overseeing the performance of the organisation. The Scottish Ministers must ensure that at least one person on the Board can speak Gaelic, and that one person is able to represent the interests of croft landlords. If the elected Commissioners are not able to satisfy these requirements, an appointed Commissioner can fill the gap.

David Campbell – Crofting Commission Appointed Commissioner

"I have been a member of the board of the Crofting Commission since spring 2014, and what has struck me from the beginning of my time as a commissioner, was the need to think strategically and thinking on a wider plain than just what happens on the croft.

A healthy and thriving crofting system is very much about crofting but it's also about communities, it's about people and populations. As a Commissioner we are charged with protecting the system and we are charged with promoting the system, and when we do that, we also help the wider communities of the crofting counties.

As a board member you have a responsibility to make the crofting system, and therefore the wider communities where crofting is found, more resilient and stronger. We do this by considering how our decisions impact crofters, but also ensuring that the wider results of our decisions deliver stronger rural communities in many of Scotland's remote and fragile communities.

Board membership can be hard work and challenging, but it is also rewarding. You are in a unique and privileged position, with input in setting the policy and direction of a public body that has been around for more than 100 years, and remains as relevant today as it did at its inception".

Assessors

The Commission also has an appointed network of volunteers known as Assessors, who have knowledge of crofting and live in the crofting area they represent. They are able to pass on information locally, they are available to signpost crofters to a range of services, and they provide an important and highly valued role of advising the Commissioners on the issues facing their communities, helping to ensure that the Commission stays in touch with the grass roots of crofting.

Since 2015, it is no longer considered appropriate for volunteer Assessors to advise the Commissioners on applications made by individual crofters, and this initially narrowed the Assessor's role, with the Commission subsequently appointing a smaller panel of Assessors in 2017. However, since then a new and different role for the Assessors has been evolving. Assessors are now involved in advising the Commission's Board and management on policies and priorities for crofting, both in the short-term and for longer-term regulatory change. In addition, they have assisted with practical projects such as the redesign of application forms and the Commission's website.

The expansion of the Commission's development role, including support for grazings committees and enforcement of residency and land use, may provide new opportunities for even greater engagement by the Commission's volunteers.

Catherine Mackinnon, assessor and crofter in Glen Roy.

"Having a keen interest in crofting I put myself forward for the assessors network in order to represent active crofters. It has given me a better understanding of the work of the Commission and I have felt able to contribute to the future of crofting and its support structures. I have cows, sheep, pigs and hens and am an active member of my local grazings committee and sheep stock club. I feel passionately that crofting has much to offer in terms of food production, land management, community cohesion and cultural transmission. Local representation is important to act as a two way communication enabling those on the ground to better understand crofting regulation and for the Commission to have insight into the challenges and opportunities that are faced by active croft custodians".

Summary of Actions

The Crofting Commission will expand its current capacity, going beyond the delivery of regulatory functions to further enhance its role in crofting development activity.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with the Commission, will create new Commission jobs. The first stage, in 2020/21, will see two additional development posts in the Western Isles, additional residency and land use officers in the Western Isles and Inverness, and an administrative assistant in the Western Isles.

The Commission will continue to support existing committees and the establishment of new grazings committees to increase active management of common grazings.

The Commission will encourage partnership working between common grazings committees and landlords to encourage diversification of the use of the grazings, including woodland creation and peatland restoration.

By June 2021, the Commission will have reviewed the practicalities and the benefits of common grazings registration, consider when and how the work can be resumed, and report to the Scottish Government with a plan to progress the registration exercise.

The Commission will explore new ways to ensure that entry to crofting is more accessible.

The Commission will encourage a culture of succession and turnover of crofts from people who no longer wish to work them, to those who do, creating opportunities for new entrants.

The Commission will continue to work with those crofters who return their annual notice.

In 2021, the Commission will expand its Residency and Land Use work by:

• Following up on those who do not return their annual notice.
• Taking action on failure to cultivate and neglect of croft land as well as non-residency.
• Implementing policies to require non-resident owners of vacant crofts to let them.
• Piloting a Land Matching Service to facilitate the transfer of crofts through assignation or sublet.

In 2021, the Commission, in consultation with other organisations, will produce information for crofters who are considering passing on their croft. This will include information about their options and the implications of these.

The Scottish Government will ensure that there are closer working relations between the Commission and RPID.

The Scottish Government and the Commission will engage with, and actively encourage applications from, women, young people and minority groups, and Gaelic speakers, for the role of Commissioner and Assessor.