The Scottish government has committed to simplifying crofting law. This first phase of legislation seeks to “correct known anomalies” in the current legislation. The Scottish government also acknowledges that a future conversation to consider more fundamental changes may be needed.

This phase 1 bill would aim to:

• help more people become crofters and better support existing crofters and their activities and businesses;
• enable more and different activity to be undertaken on common grazings, including peatland restoration and other environmental initiatives;
• empower the Crofting Commission to tackle breaches of duty through streamlined processes, and;
• resolve crofting regulatory issues more quickly through new and revised powers for Crofting Commission.

The bill would also merge the Scottish Land Court and Lands Tribunal for Scotland.

Launching the call for views, committee convener Finlay Carson MSP said: “The Scottish government is clear that, although more fundamental reform of crofting legislation may be required in the future, this more tightly focused bill would “correct known anomalies” in crofting legislation.

“Our inquiry will look at these proposed corrections and we’re asking for your views on whether they will address some of the current difficulties in crofting law. “Will the proposals solve the problems they seek to address? What other changes are needed that are not included? And will merging the Scottish Land Court and Lands Tribunal for Scotland effect positive and necessary change?”

The committee intends to take formal evidence on the bill at Holyrood from September to November with a report to Parliament expected by the end of the year. Members also hope to visit a crofting community as part of their scrutiny, to speak with crofters about how the bill’s proposals would impact crofting communities.

The call for views will be open until Friday 5 September 2025.