Web Copy - Minutes of the Tenant Farming Forum
Meeting with Cabinet Secretary, Richard Lochhead
held at Great Glen House, Inverness
4th April 2012
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Chairman:Phil Thomas
Secretariat: Scott Walker (NFUS) and Ailsa Anderson (SL&E)
STFA:Angus McCall and Christopher Nicholson
NFUS:John Picken and Nigel Miller
SL&E:Robert Balfour, Sandy Lewis and Richard Blake
RICS:Andrew Wood and Andrew Hamilton
SAAVA:Martin Hall
SGRPID:Alan Barclay and Fiona Leslie
The Chairman welcomed the Cabinet Secretary and thanked him for coming to see the TFF. He then summarised the discussion arising from the formal TFF meeting held earlier in the morning.
The Cabinet Secretary stated that it was good to have a face to face meeting and to hear what the issues are. He thanked the TFF for its input over the years. He stressed that the main objective was to ensure a vibrant tenanted sector which continued to contribute to agriculture in Scotland. He believed that tenant farming is high profile at the moment and that the Scottish Parliament was closely following the work of the Forum. He indicated that the Scottish Parliament was committed to reviewing agricultural holdings legislation by 2016, before the next election. He indicated that there was no fixed view on the Parliaments approach or whether the review would be radical or just an opportunity to take stock but consideration of tenant farming would be part of whatever broader review was undertaken.
He mentioned current debates on rent reviews, waygo and other matters, as well as the need to assess the implications of recent legal judgements. The Scottish Government was open to views on how to move forward, both in the short term (2-3 years) and in the longer term.
In response to questions Mr Lochhead indicated that the Scottish Government would be seeking to improve of data collection and will welcome any early recommendations by the TFF. He restated that the overall aim is to achieve a vibrant tenanted sector as part of Scottish agriculture which is fair, competitively and viable. There are aspiring famers who cannot afford a farm but wished to be a tenant. There remains a concentrated pattern of landownership in Scotland and tenancies offered a way for access to land resources.
Attention was drawn to the list of priorities which TFF discussed during formal business including the issue of rent reviews which remained as a top priority. The TFF confirmed it would revert to the Cabinet Secretary regarding its approach going forward. He in turn signalled a commitment from the Scottish Government to fund and resource a sub-group to look at section 13. He finished by stating that this would be a big issue for the TFF to address, and he stressed that he wanted it to be addressed in the current Parliamentary term.
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