Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill: Financial Memorandum

Contact

Joanne McNaughton

(Clerk for the Committee)

Finance and Public Administration Committee

0131 348 5000

fpa.committee@parliament.scot

Overview

About the Bill

The Bill is in two main parts.

Part 1 deals with crofting.

This part of the Bill makes various changes to the law on crofting. It will amend the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 and the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. It introduces changes to the enforcement of crofters’ duties, the powers of the Crofting Commission, common grazings, and the Crofting Register.

Part 2 merges the Scottish Land Court and Lands Tribunal for Scotland.

It sets out the transfer to the Scottish Land Court of:

the jurisdiction and functions of the Lands Tribunal
any proceedings or matters in the process of being heard or determined by the Tribunal, its staff, property, rights, liabilities and obligations

It also makes arrangement for the Court’s constitution, jurisdiction and powers.

Current Status of the Bill

This Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands on 2 June 2025.

Read and find out more about the Bill: Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill.

Stage 1

The Rural Affairs and Islands Committee has been designated as the lead Committee for the Bill. A separate call for views on the Bill’s policy provisions has been issued by the lead Committee and published on this consultation platform.

Financial Memorandum

As with all Bills, the Finance and Public Administration Committee invites written evidence on the estimated financial implications of the Bill as set out in its accompanying Financial Memorandum (FM).

Read the FM published alongside this Bill.

Making a Submission

Before making a submission, please read our Privacy Notice about submitting your views to a Committee. This tells you about how we process personal data.

Please note that in most cases your submission will be published on the Scottish Parliament's website and may be quoted in the Committee's report or in Committee meetings (which are public and broadcast).

Questions in this call for views Questions in this call for views

Did you take part in any consultation exercise preceding the Bill and, if so, did you comment on the financial assumptions made?
If applicable, do you believe your comments on the financial assumptions have been accurately reflected in the FM?
Did you have sufficient time to contribute to the consultation exercise?
If the Bill has any financial implications for you or your organisation, do you believe that they have been accurately reflected in the FM? If not, please provide details.
Do you consider that the estimated costs and savings set out in the FM are reasonable and accurate?
If applicable, are you content that your organisation can meet any financial costs that it might incur as a result of the Bill? If not, how do you think these costs should be met?
Does the FM accurately reflect the margins of uncertainty associated with the Bill’s estimated costs and with the timescales over which they would be expected to arise?

The deadline to submit your views is: Friday 5 September 2025.

We welcome written views in English, Gaelic, Scots or any other language. Due to the time required to process and analyse evidence, late submissions will only be accepted with the agreement of the Committee Clerk.

Submit your views

Click here to complete the submission form