Tenant Farming Commissioner functions: review

4. Alleged breaches

Section 24 (1) or the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 states that the Tenant Farming Commissioner must inquire into alleged breaches of the codes of practice. The Tenant Farming Commissioner has power to serve a non-compliance penalty, of up to £1000, for failure to provide information that the Commissioner considers appropriate for the purpose of the inquiry. The Commissioner does not, however, have power to impose penalties or other sanctions if, on completion of an inquiry, the Tenant Farming Commissioner finds a party in breach of the code of practice.

As can be seen in Table 5, 100% of respondents agree or strongly agree that inquiring into alleged breaches of the code should be a function of the Tenant Farming Commissioner.

As is shown in Table 6, 46% of respondents agree or strongly agree that the Tenant Farming Commissioner has sufficient powers to inquire into an alleged breach of the codes of practice. 23% disagree or strongly disagree. For those who disagree, it was argued that the Tenant Farming Commissioner has insufficient powers to sanction or fine those parties found in breach of the codes of practice. As one respondent said:

'The TFC has sufficient powers to inquire into alleged breaches of codes of practice, but has limited power to compel compliance or co-operation and non-power to impose sanctions in the event of any breach.'

In his response to this review, the Tenant Farming Commissioner raises similar concerns. Though he considers the inquiry process a strong driver of compliance, he is mindful that he is unable to impose any form of penalty on someone found to be in breach of the codes of practice. He explains:

'A fear of being ''named and shamed'' is potentially therefore the only reason for seeking to avoid breaching a code. It has to be accepted, therefore, that it is open to any company or individual to care little about any reputational damage and to ignore any recommendation made by the TFC in a report of an inquiry.'

It was suggested by some respondents that the Tenant Farming Commissioner requires statutory powers to enforce compliance with the codes of practice.