Economic conditions of crofting 2015-18: survey

Appendix A - Questionnaire

Survey Of The Economic Condition Of Crofting 2015-2018

How to complete this survey

Where possible, questions have been designed to be easy to complete and you need only tick the box or boxes that best reflect your answer. Some questions will need you to write in a brief response. If you wish to comment on your answer or provide any further information, please use the space provided or write in/under the appropriate table.

Please Return Your Completed Survey In The Freepost Envelope Provided Before 17th September 2018.

Information required by this survey

You will be asked questions about your crofting-related activities. We are defining crofting-based activities as commercial activities which you run on your croft which use the resources or products of the location. This might include activities associated with farming, tourism, leisure and renewable energy production.

For this study, activities such as a hairdressing business or a shop selling produce outside of the croft are not classified as “crofting related activities", even if they are run from the location of your croft. Only include these activities when answering questions which are related to non-crofting related activities.

Please be assured that the confidentiality of your responses will be maintained and that no personal details or individual responses will be disclosed to any third party.

Further information

If you require any further information or would like more information on how your data will be used, please do not hesitate to contact our Crofters Hotline on xxxxxx or email xxxxxxx. Alternatively, if you would like to get in touch with the Scottish Government, please contact xxxx on xxxxx or at xxxxx.

Businesses for which information is required

• Information you provide should relate only to the registered tenant(s) or owner-occupier crofter(s) of the croft associated with this address.
• If you are the landlord of the croft, please pass this form to the registered crofter.
• If there is more than one registered crofter on the croft, please complete jointly, clearly detailing income and outgoings etc., for all involved.
• If you have more than one croft, please complete this form about the croft associated with this address.
• Please write in the details of the croft you are completing the survey about in the box below.

Name of Croft

Postal Address

Post Code

Section 1: About your crofting household

This section asks about the people within your household so we can understand the views and experiences of different household, e.g. how different age groups perceive the challenges currently facing crofters. This information will not be used to identify you and will only be analysed collectively with other responses.

Q1.1 How would you describe your gender identity?
Please Tick ◘ One Box Only
◘ Man
◘ Woman
◘ In another way

Q1.2 What is your age?
Please Tick ◘ One Box Only
◘ 16-24
◘ 25-34
◘ 35-44
◘ 45-54
◘ 55-64
◘ 65+

Q1.3 Including yourself, how many people live in your household? Please tick one box only
Please Tick ◘ One Box Only
◘ One (Single occupancy household) ◘ Go to Section 2
◘ Two people
◘ Three people
◘ Four people ◘ Go to Q1.4
◘ Five or more people (Please write in number below)

Q1.4 Thinking about the other occupants of your household, how many belong to each of the following gender/age bands?
Please Write In Numbers For Each That Applies

	16-24 years	25-34 years	35-44 years	45-54 years	55-64 years	65+ years
Man
Woman
Identify in another way

Q1.5 How many children under 16 years do you have living at home and elsewhere?
Please Write A Number For Each (if none, write in ‘X’)
Number of children living in household ◘ Go to Q1.6
Number of children living elsewhere
◘ Not applicable (no children under 16 in household nor elsewhere) ◘ Go to Section 2

Q1.6 How many of your children under 16 years practice crofting or have expressed an interest in becoming a crofter?
Please Write A Number For Each (if none, write in ‘X’)
Number of children currently crofting
Number of children interested in crofting

Section 2: About your crofting background

This section asks about the reasons why you became a crofter and the work that you do.

Q2.1 Were you born in Scotland?
Please Tick ◘ All That Apply
◘Yes, born in Scotland
◘No, born elsewhere in UK
◘No, but parents are/family is native to Scotland
◘No, born elsewhere outside of the UK

Q2.2 What were your main reasons for becoming a crofter?
Please Tick ◘ All That Apply
◘ I was brought up in a crofting family
◘ To live amongst a small community
◘ A family croft became available
◘ To live with family and/or friends
◘ To live with spouse/partner
◘ To provide a source of income
◘ Other Please Tick ◘ And Write In Below

Q2.3 For how long have you been crofting?
Please Tick ◘ One Box
◘ Less than one year
◘ 1 to less than 3 years
◘ 3 to less than 5 years
◘ 5 to less than 10 years
◘ 10 to less than 15 years
◘ 15 to less than 20 years
◘ 20 years or more

Q2.4 How many crofts do you currently operate as a tenant and how many as an owner-occupier crofter?
Please Write A Number For Each In Below
Number of crofts operated as tenant
Number of crofts operated as owner-occupier

Q2.5 Which of the following crofting activities are performed at your croft and approximately what proportion in % does each account for?
Please Tick ◘ All That Apply And Write In Percent For Each
◘ Livestock ◘ Go to Q2.6
◘ Crops
◘ Bed and breakfast/holiday let
◘ Aquaculture
◘ Wood processing
◘ Renewable energy production
◘ Leisure
◘ Other ◘ Go to Q2.7

Q2.6 Of your livestock, how many are…?
Please Write A Number For Each In Below
Sheep
Cows

Q2.7 Do you have a succession plan in place for when you pass on your croft or tenancy agreement?
Please Tick ◘ One Box
◘ No
◘ Yes (please briefly describe your plan below) ◘ Go to section 3

Q2.8 What is the main reason for not having a succession plan in place?
Please Tick ◘ One Box
◘ No potential successor
◘ No interest in making succession plan
◘ Children/successor not interested in crofting
◘ Legislation presenting succession to more than one successor
◘ Other (please specify)

Section 3: About your crofting activities

This section asks about the work done by people in your household with respect to crofting & elsewhere and the costs relating to the running of your croft. The purpose of this section is to understand the financial issues that crofters face. The information provided will assist in developing Government policies on crofting and help address any issues that may exist

Q3.1 Of the adults (aged 16 years and over) who live in your household, how many were involved in the following activities in the last 12 months?
Please Write In A Number For Each (If None, Write In ‘X’)
Actively worked on your croft
Worked in paid employment outside of crofting
Received income from non-crofting self-employment
Attended full-time education
Attended part-time education

Q3.2 In the last 12 months, approximately how many hours on an average week does each adult (aged 16 and over) work on the following?
Please Write In A Number For Each (If None, Write In ‘X’)

	Crofting	Paid non-crofting work
Adult 1
Adult 2
Adult 3
Adult 4
Adult 5
Adult 6

Q3.3 Approximately, what was your revenue before deducting costs from crofting-based activities in the last 12 months (please include any agricultural support funds such as Single Farm Payment or funding from the Scottish Rural Development Programme)?
Please Write In To The Nearest £100

Q3.4 How do you anticipate this will change over the next 12 months and why?
Please Tick ◘ One Box And Write In Below
◘ Likely to increase significantly
◘ Likely to decrease moderately
◘ Likely to increase moderately
◘ Likely to decrease significantly
◘ Not likely to change
Reason (Write In Below)

Q3.5 Approximately, what was your business running costs related to your crofting-based activities (please see front page for our definition of “crofting based activities”) in the last 12 months.
(Please exclude land and housing rent or mortgage payments but include all crofting related expenditure except investments which will be asked about in Section 4 on page 7)?

Please Write In To The Nearest £100

Q3.6 Approximately, what was your total household income from all non-crofting based activities in the last 12 months (please include all sources of paid employment, pensions, benefits and interest on bank deposits & investments)?
Please Write In To The Nearest £100

Q3.7 How do you anticipate this will change over the next 12 months and why?
Please Tick ◘ One Box And Write In Below
◘ Likely to increase significantly
◘ Likely to decrease moderately
◘ Likely to increase moderately
◘ Likely to decrease significantly
◘ Not likely to change
Reason (Write In Below)

Q3.8 Do you pay for your land rent/mortgage together with your housing rent/mortgage?
Please Tick ◘ All That Apply
◘ Land and housing rent/mortgage are paid together
◘ Land and housing rent/mortgage are paid separately ◘ Go to Q3.9
◘ There are no rental or mortgage costs on my land or house ◘ Go to section 4

Q3.9 Approximately, what were your rent/mortgage costs in the last 12 months for…?
Please Write In To The Nearest £100
Housing rent/mortgage costs
Land rent/mortgage costs

Q3.10 Does your rent get regularly reviewed?
Please Tick ◘ One Box
◘ Yes ◘ Go to Q3.11
◘ No ◘ Go to section 4
◘ Not applicable (owned/mortgaged)

Q3.11 When was your rent last reviewed and when is It due for the next review?
Please Write In Month/Year For Each

Last review		Month		Year
Next review		Month		Year

Section 4: Investing in your croft

This section asks about investments that you have made in the last three years, such as fixed and moveable equipment, additional livestock, refurbishment of croft house or outbuildings, or a new croft house. Again, the purpose of this section is to understand the financial issues that crofters face.

Q4.1 Have you invested in your croft during the 2015-2018 period?
Please Tick ◘ One Box Only
◘ Yes ◘ Go to Q4.2
◘ No ◘ Go to Q4.7

Q4.2 Approximately how much in total was invested in your croft during the 2015-2018 period?
Please Write In To The Nearest £100
Own money
Grant money/support schemes

Q4.3 How much, if any, of the money invested was raised through a secured or unsecured loan?
Please Write In To The Nearest £100
Secured loan
Unsecured loan

Q4.4 To what extent was the investment in your croft during the 2015-2018 period related to agriculture?
Please Tick ◘ One Box And Write In Below
◘ All was related to agriculture
◘ A little was related to agriculture
◘ Most was related to agriculture
◘ None was related to agriculture
◘ About half was related to agriculture

Q4.5 How much, if any, additional income (excluding government assistance which is covered at Q4.2) have you received as a result of the investment made in your croft?
Please Write In To The Nearest £100

Q4.6 How do you anticipate this will change over the next 12 months and why?
Please Tick ◘ One Box And Write In Below
◘ Likely to increase significantly
◘ Likely to decrease moderately
◘ Likely to increase moderately
◘ Likely to decrease significantly
◘ Not likely to change
Reason (Write In Below)

Q4.7 Which of your activities produced the additional income?
Please Tick ◘ All That Apply
◘ Livestock
◘ Wood processing
◘ Crops
◘ Renewable energy production
◘ Bed and breakfast/holiday let
◘ Leisure
◘ Aquaculture
◘ Other

Q4.8 Approximately how much, if any, do you plan to invest in your croft in the 2019-22 period?
Please Write In To The Nearest £100
If investment planned, go to Q4.8
If no investment planned, go to Q4.9

Q4.9 Which of the following is the planned investment in your croft during the 2019-2022 period related to?
Please Tick ◘ One Box And Write In Below
◘ Livestock
◘ Wood processing
◘ Crops
◘ Renewable energy production
◘ Bed and breakfast/holiday let
◘ Leisure
◘ Aquaculture
◘ Other

Q4.10 If you are not planning on investing in the period 2019-2022 what are the main reasons?
Please Tick ◘ All That Apply
◘ No desirable opportunity to do so
◘ Application for funding declined
◘ Financial outlay/cost is too great
◘ Funding source removed
◘ Uncertain of the potential benefit of investing
◘ Difficulty accessing unsecured finance
◘ Lack of information on how to do this
◘ Difficulty accessing secured finance
◘ Lack of sources of funding to do this
◘ Another reason (please specify below)

Q4.11 Have you looked for any advice/support on crofting activities in the last 12 months?
Please Tick ◘ One Box
◘ Yes
◘ No

Q4.12 Which of the following sources of advice/support are you aware of and to which would you go for advice or support on crofting activities if needed?
Please Tick ◘ All Those You Are Aware Of And Those You Would Use

	Aware of	Would use
Crofting commission or local CC Assessor
Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP)
Farm Advisory Service (FAS)
National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS)
Scottish Crofting Federation
Croft House Grant scheme (CHG)
Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme (CAGS)
Crofting Cattle Improvement Scheme (Bull hire scheme)
Government department (please state which below)
Grazings clerk/constable or Committee
Crofting community
Banks/finance house
Family and friends
Landlord of croft
Internet site (please specify which below)
Other (please specify below)
Don’t know

Q4.13 How do/would you prefer to receive future information and guidance on crofting activities?
Please Tick ◘ All That Apply
Letter posted to my address ◘
Website page or forum (please state which below)s ◘

Email correspondences ◘
Magazine or newspaper (please state which below)s ◘

Community forum/workshops ◘
Talking to friends or familys ◘
Community forum/workshops ◘
Talking to friends or familys ◘
Other (please specify below)s ◘

I prefer not to receive any information or guidances ◘
Don’t knows ◘

Q4.14 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about crofting?
Please Tick ◘ One Box Only For Each Statement

	Strongly agree	Agree	Disagree	Strongly disagree	Don’t know
a) The Scottish Government is committed to protecting the future of crofting
b) Diversification from agricultural-based crofting activities is the only way to secure the economic future of crofting
c) Crofting is not economically viable without household members supplementing income from work outside of crofting activities
d) I know where to find information on economic or financial help for crofting activities
e) Income from, for example, wind farm developments on the common grazing should benefit the whole community and not just those crofters with shares in the common grazings
f) I believe crofting in its present form has a sustainable future

Q4.15 If you would like to make any further comments regarding your croft or the future of crofting in Scotland?
Please write in below