Tag Archives: Crofters Commission

Crofting Commission Elections 2017 – The Results

Crofting Elections 2017 - Count at Stornoway Town Hall

Colin Kennedy keeps a close eye on the count at Stornoway Town Hall

The results are in from the count in Stornoway Town Hall for the Crofting Commission Elections. They are:-

East Highlands (East Sutherland, Easter Ross, East Inverness and Moray) 

Stage 1 votes:-

  • Rod Mackenzie – 150 votes
  • Archie MacNab – 91 votes
  • John Ferme McMorran  – 71 votes

Stage 2 votes (following exclusion of John Ferme McMorran):-

  • Rod Mackenzie – 181 votes – Duly elected
  • Archie MacNab – 121 votes

South West Highlands (Lochaber, Argyll & Bute, Arran and Cumbrae, Small Isles)

Stage 1 votes:-

  • Colin Niall Kennedy – 165 votes
  • Billy Neilson – 124 votes
  • Catherine Mackinnon – 67 votes
  • Uilleam Smith – 55 votes
  • Ronnie Campbell – 32 votes

Stage 2 votes (following exclusion of Ronnie Campbell):-

  • Colin Niall Kennedy – 172 votes
  • Billy Neilson – 128 votes
  • Catherine Mackinnon – 81 votes
  • Uilleam Smith – 57 votes

Stage 3 votes (following exclusion of Uilleam Smith):-

  • Colin Niall Kennedy – 181 votes
  • Billy Neilson – 152 votes
  • Catherine Mackinnon – 98 votes

Stage 4 votes (following exclusion of Catherine Mackinnon):-

  • Billy Neilson – 201 votes – Duly Elected
  • Colin Niall Kennedy – 199 votes

West Highlands (West Sutherland, Wester Ross, Skye & Lochalsh)

  • Mairi Mackenzie – 694 votes – Duly Elected
  • Stephen William Love – 204 votes
  • Peter O’Donnghaile – 164 votes
  • Jonathan James Hedges – 95 votes

Western Isles

  • Iain Maciver -1069 votes – Duly elected
  • Alasdair MacEachen – 1059 votes

Only one nomination was received for Caithness & Orkney and also Shetland. Thus each candidate for those two constituencies was automatically elected and no election took place.

Caithness and Orkney

  • Cyril  Annal – Automatically elected

Shetland

  • Andy Holt – Automatically elected

Two of the seats were very close indeed.

In the Western Isles Iain Maciver got in with 10 votes over Alasdair MacEachen.

Most eyes were on the South West Highlands seat where controversial Crofting Commission Convener, Colin Kennedy, was re-standing for election. It was taken through 4 stages of voting with each transferable vote counting until Billy Neilson was victorious over Colin Kennedy by just 2 votes. Thus Kennedy, who many have been calling for long to go, is now gone. However, it shows that despite his controversial stance on a number of matters, that were decried by many far and wide, he still had fairly strong support amongst crofters in his own constituency.

Adding in the three appointed commissioners the nine new Crofting Commissioners are:-

  • Cyril  Annal – Elected – Caithness and Orkney
  • David Campbell – Appointed – Landlord Representative
  • Andy Holt – Elected – Shetland
  • Iain Maciver – Elected – Western Isles
  • Mairi Mackenzie – Elected – West Highlands
  • Rod Mackenzie – Elected – East Highlands
  • Malcolm Mathieson – Appointed
  • Billy Neilson – Elected – South West Highlands
  • James Scott – Appointed

Malcolm Mathieson and James Scott were only recently appointed and thus David Campbell is the only commissioner to have already served for some time (since June 2014) on the board of the Crofting Commission. David Campbell was clearly, at times, in conflict with the former Convener, Colin Kennedy.

Commenting on the results, Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing said:-

Crofting is an integral part of Scottish rural life and it is essential that it has dedicated people to represent and reflect the interests and diversity of our crofting communities.

The elected crofting commissioners will give crofters a stronger say in how they are regulated, bringing valuable local knowledge and experience to the role and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the six newly elected Commissioners on their election and wish them every success.

This group, together with the appointed commissioners, will play an essential role in the effective governance and operation of the Crofting Commission, ensuring that it has the policies in place to deliver fair, reasonable and transparent decisions on matters affecting crofters and rural communities.

Crofting Commission Chief Executive Bill Barron said:-

I would like to congratulate those who have been elected and I look forward to meeting and welcoming them to the Commission.  With the three Commissioners appointed/re-appointed by the Scottish Government earlier this year, we now have a full complement of nine.   I and all the staff of the Commission are determined to give the new Board the best possible support as they take on the responsibilities of leading the Crofting Commission. We believe there is a positive future for crofting and I will do all I can to help the new Board of Commissioners carry out their functions effectively.

With such a big batch of new commissioners ushered in at one time many hope that this will see a change in approach by the Crofting Commission as the organisation has been dogged by almost constant controversy over the past 5 years. Only time will tell. We will be watching and reporting.

Brian Inkster

Image Credit: © BBC Alba

 

An elective despotism is not the Crofting Commission we fought for

An elective depotisim is not the Crofting Commission we fought forThomas Jefferson said:

An elective despotism is not the government we fought for.

This week the Scottish Crofting Federation called the Convener of the Crofting Commission, Colin Kennedy, a deluded despot. Perhaps they are now thinking that an elective despotism is not the Crofting Commission they fought for.

An elected Crofting Commission (6 out of the 9 commissioners – with the other 3 being appointed) was introduced by the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. The Scottish Crofting Federation supported this move. Before that all commissioners of the Crofters Commission were appointed.

At the time the then environment minister, Stewart Stevenson, said:-

The Scottish government wants to give crofters a voice to determine their own future and these first ever Crofting Commission elections is a solid step down that road.

The Scottish government believes crofts that are occupied and worked can be the biggest contribution to the sustainable economic growth and development of our crofting communities. Having an effective regulator is a vital part of achieving that aim.

The first Convener of the new Crofting Commission was Susan Walker who was appointed by the Scottish Government. At the time some thought that process should have been delegated to the commissioners themselves.

Patrick Krause, Chief Executive of the Scottish Crofting Federation, said:-

Clearly the minister doesn’t have enough confidence in the commission to allow them to choose their own convener.

Elsewhere we have heard of the spread of democracy through the Arab Spring.

Is it not time to allow democracy to apply in crofting and to have a Crofting Spring where the commission can be allowed to make its own decisions?

Tavish Scott, Shetland Liberal Democrat MSP, said:-

This is a terrible decision and is consistent with the command and control being exercised by the SNP government on a whole range of issues.

They won’t make an appointment unless they are sure the person passes the Saltire underpants test.

Why do they not trust the people who have been elected by the crofters to make the decision?

Mary Scanlon, Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP, said:-

Given that this was the first time that commissioners were chosen with a mandate from their own communities, it seems high-handed of the minister to appoint the convener himself.

If the nine commissioners were allowed to choose from among their own number the convener would have the confidence and respect of the others. That might not be the case if the appointment is made by the minister.

Rhoda Grant, Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, said:-

To choose the convener in this way, weights the process towards the three commissioners already chosen through the public appointments system.

The minister should allow the commission to choose its own convener.

Alasdair Allan, Western Isles SNP MSP, said:-

There must be a tie between the commission and the minister because it is a public body.

The minister has a choice among all the members.

If the six members chosen by the crofters are unhappy with what the government or the commission is doing they will not be slow to say that.

There is a majority of crofters’ representatives so it is not true to say that this is an attempt to control the commission.

Some commissioners were not too slow to show that they were unhappy and organised a coup against the incumbent convener. They then insisted that they should elect the new one. The minister responsible for crofting at the time, Aileen McLeod, allowed them to do so and Colin Kennedy was duly elected.

The result has been clear for all to see. It could not have been foreseen by the representative bodies and MSPs who called for this democratic process at the outset. In light of what has happened a future crofting minister might think twice about allowing commissioners to choose a convener themselves.

Fergus Ewing MSP, cabinet secretary responsible for crofting, has instituted a governance review of the Crofting Commission. Whatever the outcome of that review it should at least attempt to avoid despotism ever appearing again within the Crofting Commission.

Brian Inkster

Back to the Future of Crofting

Back to the Future of Crofting

But Doc, nothing has changed in 10 years!

If you were to travel back in time 10 years ago to the day you would find a headline in The Scotsman that read ‘MSPs heap pressure on Crofters’ Commission with criticism of bill‘.

It was 5 July 2006 and on that day the Scottish Parliament’s Environment and Rural Affairs Committee released its findings on the Crofting Reform Bill after taking evidence at five meetings that year.

Some salient points from The Scotsman’s report from then:-

Critics of the commission during the evidence-gathering sessions included the National Trust for Scotland, which said the commission’s work is regarded as “inconsistent and ineffective”. The Scottish Crofting Foundation also gave an example of the “long-term regulatory failure” in one township where 11 out of 19 croft holders are absentees despite demand from prospective new entrants.

The report adds: “The committee was struck by the range of negative comments and the depth of frustration and long-standing dissatisfaction expressed by witnesses about the commission’s practice.”

It also said it was “astonished” a proper register of crofts has not been produced despite it being a statutory obligation on the commission for over 50 years.

Rob Gibson, the SNP’s land reform spokesman, said the bill offers no vision for the future of crofting and said successive governments had failed to ensure the commission does it job.

The report in The Scotsman also mentioned Brian Wilson, the former Government Minister, saying of the report:-

The whole thing has turned into an indictment of the Crofters’ Commission and its failure to implement its regulatory role. I think they [the commission board] should now consider their positions.

Fast forward 10 years and not much has changed. It is now called the Crofting Commission as opposed to the Crofters Commission. Similar but perhaps more acute criticism is being laid at its door. Indeed, I was speaking to a crofter just today who said that the Crofting Commission of 2016 is much worse than its predecessor, the Crofters Commission, was 10 years ago.

Headlines in the news over the past few weeks have included:-

Crofting Comission branded as ‘dictatorial, vindictive and unjustified’ by Upper Coll crofters

Row between national body and local crofters on Lewis deepens

Crofting Commission ‘flouting the will’ of Parliament

Crofting commissioner resigns in Lewis grazings row

Pressure grows on Crofting Commission as row over committees continues

Demands intensify for inquiry into operations of Crofting Commission

Crofting Commission “cover-up” blasted

Sleat storm surrounds Crofting Commission

Crofting Commission’s Mangersta U-turn welcomed, but calls for government investigation continue

It was in the wake of the near collapse of the Crofting Reform Bill in 2006 that pressure from the Scottish Crofting Federation led to Scottish Ministers commissioning a Committee of Inquiry on Crofting. This was chaired by Professor Mark Shucksmith. The Committee of Inquiry on Crofting undertook many community meetings throughout 2007 and delivered their final report in 2008.

The Shucksmith Report commented on the Governance of Crofting as follows:-

Crucial issues for the governance of crofting are transparency, source of legitimacy, accountability and the balance of central and local interests. Centralised arrangements,
together with a lack of clear functional boundaries between the key institutions, particularly
between the Crofters Commission and the Scottish Government, cloud the lines of public
accountability for the effective governance of crofting. Recurring themes in the evidence
were that the Commission should be more accountable; have greater area representation;
should enforce regulations more effectively; should be better aligned with other relevant partners; and should have closer communication with local people and Grazings Committees.

All issues that appear to remain today. Perhaps that is because in introducing the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 the then Scottish Parliament ignored many of the recommendations actually contained in the Shucksmith Report.

There is currently a major crisis in crofting. The consensus of opinion appears to be that the problems are caused by the Crofting Commission and the decisions taken by them and manner in which they execute those decisions.

A recent online poll conducted by The Scottish Farmer indicated that 96% of readers who took part considered that the Scottish Government should enact an independent inquiry into the workings of the Crofting Commission.

The Scottish Farmer in conducting this poll stated:-

The level of criticism has mounted so quickly that it is now incumbent on the Scottish Government to institute an independent external audit of the commission.

And, if the Crofting Commissioners feel the criticism to be unjust, they too should welcome independent scrutiny of their actions.

One thing is for sure, Scottish ministers cannot continue to sit on their hands on this one. Action must be taken swiftly and decisively!

I sincerely hope that in 10 years from now we don’t look back and say that nothing has really changed and indeed the situation at the Crofting Commission has got worse not better. The Scottish Government has the opportunity to change the future and must now do so.

Brian Inkster

Image Credit: Back to the Future © Amblin Entertainment

You might think that, I couldn’t possibly comment

You might think that, I couldnt possibly comment - Common Grazings Crisis - Crofting Commission - Scottish Government

There comes a point where actions speak louder than words

To date the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity with responsibility for Crofting, Fergus Ewing MSP, has not said much on the question of  ‘The Common Clearances‘.

Rhoda Grant MSP asked the Scottish Government:-

whether it is satisfied with how the Crofting Commission has acted in all matters relating to the dismissal of the Mangersta grazing committee.

Fergus Ewing MSP answered:-

The Crofting Commission is a non-departmental public body that takes regulatory decisions within the bounds of its duties and powers. Such decisions are taken independently and at arm’s length from Scottish Government.

Rhoda Grant MSP also asked the Scottish Government:-

whether it will establish an inquiry into the workings of the Crofting Commission.

Fergus Ewing MSP answered:-

The Scottish Government has no current plans to do so.

In addition Rhoda Grant MSP asked the Scottish Government:-

whether it has confidence in the convener of the Crofting Commission.

Fergus Ewing MSP answered:-

The Scottish Government is confident that the Crofting Commission board is able to deliver the functions of the commission.

That may have been the Scottish Government’s position on 27 June 2016. The massive U-turn taken by the Crofting Commission on 29 June 2016 should change that stance.

That U-turn and the manner in which it was executed demonstrates that the Crofting Commission got it wrong. They handled the whole Mangersta affair very badly indeed from start to finish. In light of this there can be no confidence that the board or their Convener is able to deliver the functions of the Commission.

The watershed moment was reached on 29 June. The Scottish Government can no longer sit on the fence. There has been as good an admission as any that the Crofting Commission failed the shareholders of Mangersta. In so doing they failed in their regulatory duties and should be made to account for those failings.

A day before the U-turn representatives of the Scottish Crofting Federation met with Fergus Ewing MSP. Commenting on that meeting the Chair of the Federation, Fiona Mandeville, said:-

We also had constructive discussion on the Crofting Commission crisis. We are very supportive of a majority elected Commission and fear that the common grazings debacle can jeopardise this. We therefore asked Mr Ewing to consider a procedural review of the Commission. At his request, we will send him a note outlining details of our recommendations forthwith.

In the wake of the U-turn, Fergus Ewing MSP should take heed of that request for a procedural review and actually now instigate it.

The Scottish Government can no longer hide behind suggestions that the Crofting Commission are at “arm’s length” from the Scottish Government.

The fact is that the Crofting Commission and their Commissioners are answerable to the Scottish Government.

Under and in terms of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993:-

  • The Crofting Commission shall discharge their functions in accordance with such directions of a general or specific character as may from time to time be given to them in writing by the Scottish Ministers. [Section 1(3)]
  • The Scottish Ministers may (a) confer functions on; (b) remove functions from; (c) otherwise modify functions of, the Crofting Commission, where they consider it appropriate to do so to ensure that the Crofting Commission carry out their functions efficiently and effectively. [Section 2A(1) and (2)]
  • In so doing Scottish Ministers may modify any enactment (including the 1993 Act). [Section 2A(3)(b)]
  • The Scottish Ministers may remove a member of the Crofting Commission from office if satisfied that the member is unable or unfit to exercise the functions of a member or is unsuitable to continue as a member. [Paragraph 9(1)(e) of Schedule 1]
  • The Crofting Commission must provide the Scottish Ministers with such information in respect of the exercise, or proposed exercise, of the Crofting Commission’s functions as the Scottish Ministers may, from time to time, require. [Paragraph 20 of Schedule 1]

So, far from being a body that the Scottish Government should consider to be at arms length from it, the Crofting Commission is one that is directly accountable to and ultimately under the control of the Scottish Ministers.

That being the case the Scottish Government should not, like the Crofting Commission, ignore the law involved. They should apply the law, as set out above, as necessary to make the Crofting Commission accountable for their actions over the Mangersta debacle.

Following the U-turn by the Crofting Commission, former members of Mangersta Common Grazing Committee stated:-

We continue to believe that there should be an inquiry into the functioning of the Crofting Commission.

An inquiry is necessary to answer questions such as:-

  • Why did the Crofting Commission reopen a case investigated, resolved and closed by the Crofters Commission?
  • On whose insistence and on what evidence was the case reopened?
  • Was there undeclared conflicts of interest by Crofting Commissioners involved in the matter?
  • What legal advice was sought by the Crofting Commission on the matter? From whom, when, on whose insistence and on what basis? Was such legal advice followed?
  • Why were inconsistencies applied by the Crofting Commission to the handling of this case compared to others being dealt with contemporaneously?
  • Why was the removal from office of the Grazings Committee at the time deemed justifiable and necessary?
  • Why did the Crofting Commission ignore and not respond to the legal position put forward on behalf of members of the dismissed Grazings Committee?
  • Why did the Crofting Commission refuse to revisit their decision (saying that they could not in law do so) but ultimately did just that?
  • Why did the Crofting Commission ignore their own guidelines on the investigation of questions of financial impropriety which they had stated were a matter for the civil or criminal courts?
  • Why did the Crofting Commission purport to appoint a Grazings Constable when there is no basis in law to do so and then sought to extend that appointment, again when there is no basis in law to do so?
  • Why was the particular Grazings Constable in question appointed, on what basis and was a conflict of interest declared by any Commissioners relative to that appointment?
  • Was the Grazings Constable really independent and impartial or was he provided with instructions for the discharge of his appointment by the Crofting Commission?
  • Why did the Convener of the Crofting Commission, Colin Kennedy, attend a meeting of the shareholders of the Mangersta Common Grazings and refuse to leave when a conflict of interest had been declared by him?
  • Why and on what basis in law, when shareholders questioned the legality of the Commissioners proposals at that meeting, were they told that if all shareholders did not accept them, the Commission would not allow shareholders to reform a committee?
  • Did the Crofting Commission’s handling of the matter result in the resignation of William Swann as a Commissioner?
  • Why did the Crofting Commission issue guidelines on the management of grazings funds, then delete those guidelines and claim that they had never said what they had said in them?
  • Why did the Crofting Commission insist that funds had to be paid out by Grazings Clerks to shareholders “immediately” when Roseanna Cunningham MSP, on behalf of the Scottish Government, clarified on 21 June 2016 that “the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 does not require the immediate disbursement of funds by a grazings committee”?
  • Why did the Crofting Commission insist on common grazings funds being managed in a way that defied logic and was not set out anywhere in law?
  • Why did the Crofting Commission not take cognisance of the statement by Minister of State for Scotland, Lord Kirkhill, in the House of Lords on 6 April 1976 regarding the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Bill that “there would seem to be nothing [in the bill] to prevent a voluntary arrangement being made whereby any crofter’s share would be diverted to the grazings committee”?

These are questions that the Scottish Ministers can no longer ignore following the recent U-turn by the Crofting Commission. The Scottish Ministers must comment properly on them and, if necessary, take appropriate action under and in terms of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993.

The only way that they will be able to properly pass such comment and take such action is following a focused and detailed investigation into how and why the Crofting Commission handled the Mangersta situation in the manner that they did.

That case is no longer ongoing and is not subject to court proceedings. The Crofting Commission therefore cannot hide from, prevent or delay an investigation specifically focussed thereon. Fergus Ewing MSP must now instigate just such an investigation for the future stability, survival and sustainability of crofting in Scotland.

Brian Inkster

Image Credit: House of Cards © BBC

Crofting Convenergate?

Crofting Convenergate

Infamy, infamy they’ve all got it in for me!

We recently blogged on the change of Convener within the Crofting Commission. There was reference in that post to what has been called a “witch-hunt” and “a bad smell”. Three letters written by Dr Iain MacKinnon to the West Highland Free Press give more detail on what one might refer to as ‘Crofting Convenergate’. We publish them here in their entirety and as they were written (the West Highland Free Press edited the second of the three letters a little prior to publication).

Letter 1:  3 May 2015

The anonymous Crofting Commissioner quoted in last week’s Free Press claimed discontent with Susan Walker’s convenership of the Commission has “been going on for some time”.

If that is so, then why did the five alleged complainants not wait for the scheduled Commission board meeting on 13th May to raise their no-confidence motion: what sudden calamity made their ‘emergency meeting’ such an imperative? The anonymous commissioner was silent on this, as they were on any details about Susan Walker’s failings.

The Free Press then claimed they had been told: “The commissioners did not want to go on the record at this stage”.

This remarkable statement suggests the complainants have agreed collectively to leak the story anonymously while anticipating going ‘on the record’ in the future.

This would be an astonishing course of action. The conspirators must be aware there are proper procedures available to them for resolving such disputes. Instead they must have decided collectively to throw the organisation that they represent – and crofting regulation generally – into public disrepute.

This matters because section 2.1. of the Commission’s Code of Conduct states commissioners “have a duty to act in the interests of the public body of which they are a member and in accordance with the core functions and duties of that body”.

The code then states: “You have a duty to promote and support these principles by leadership and example, and to maintain and strengthen the public’s trust and confidence in the integrity of the public body and its members in conducting public business.”

The code also demands that commissioners must respect their fellows, “treating them with courtesy at all times”. The anonymous briefings clearly breach this part of the code.

If they have been jointly briefing against Susan Walker the five complainants appear to be in breach of the Commission’s Code of Conduct and liable to investigation by the Standards Commission for Scotland which polices ‘The Ethical Standards in Public Life Act’.

Additionally, “promoting the interests of crofting” is a requirement for commissioners under Part 1 of the Crofting Act and, if they are shown to have acted against this, then under Schedule 1 they can be found unsuitable to continue and dismissed.

If, as is alleged, five anonymous commissioners want to declare ‘no-confidence’ in Susan Walker, they are free to do so. However, if they have also unnecessarily called an ‘emergency meeting’ and then systematically leaked that news to the media for maximum publicity, then they have undoubtedly weakened “the public’s trust and confidence in the integrity” of the Crofting Commission and they have brought their own positions within it into disrepute.

If this is the case, the Crofting Minister must consider whether such people are fit for public office. If it turns out that, in fact, the anonymous briefings have been instigated by one or two individuals, without the consent of other complainants, then those complainants who have been used in this way need to think carefully about the ugly, cowardly whispering campaign of which they are now part.

Letter 2: 18 May 2015

I would like to add to the tributes offered to former Crofting Commission convener, Susan Walker. My primary reason for writing is as it was two weeks ago – not as a friend and one-time colleague of the former convener, but as someone concerned about the future well-being of crofting tenure.

The whispering campaign against Susan Walker began in the media at the end of last month. Since then, her work on behalf of crofting throughout the Highlands and Islands has been praised by the Scottish Crofting Federation and the chairs of the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs Committee and Cross-Party Group on Crofting.

It is worth reflecting on the breadth of that support. It includes the crofting representative body, the senior parliamentarians on crofting issues and also the Scottish Government itself. All appear to believe that “the new enlightened way in which the Crofting Commission functions” has been in part the result of Susan Walker’s leadership, and had given grounds for optimism for a tenure system that had previously been described, almost universally, as “failing”.

Her critics, on the other hand, appear to comprise her disaffected former colleagues and one or two newspapers. One of these newspapers is the Free Press – with one columnist dismissing her as a ‘trusty’ in the pocket of Government.

While the Free Press’ editorial two weeks ago gave an admirably clear argument for a fully elected Crofting Commission, it also acknowledged that the newspaper publicised the conspiracy against Susan Walker without knowing what she is said to have done wrong.

So what has Susan Walker been doing right these last three years? The contrast between Taynuilt and North Ballachulish indicates the Commission’s wider change in attitude under her leadership. In 2005, when ten houses were proposed on croft land in Taynuilt, the old ‘failed’ Crofters Commission folded to the developer’s demands with barely a whimper. By contrast, under Susan Walker’s leadership the new Commission has taken its opposition to the current plan for ten houses on a croft in North Ballachulish all the way to the Land Court.

This principled opposition was not the result of new legislative requirements but of a new determination within the Commission itself. The wide-ranging praise Susan Walker has received in recent weeks suggests this step-change has been noted throughout the organisation’s work.

The commissioners responsible for the covert briefings against her have breached standards required for public life and brought the Commission into disrepute. They have lost the trust of government and have surely failed the trust of those who elected them to turn around the mess they inherited. It would be a real service to crofting if the Free Press were to disclose their identity.

The media coverage no doubt greatly reduced the opportunity for a mediated process within the commission to resolve the conflict and allow Susan Walker to continue the good work she had started. The unstinting dedication for the good of crofting that she brought to her role will leave the commission with her.

Letter 3: 23 June 2015

The Minister for Crofting, Aileen McLeod, this week told the Crofting Commission she is “very pleased to support their proposal on the selection of a new convener”.

However, files I obtained from the Commission last week through Freedom of Information legislation reveal that the conduct of Commissioners has been privately criticised by the Minister, with an unnamed official expressing Dr McLeod’s disappointment “at events being played out through the media” following the conspiracy against former Commission convener Susan Walker at the end of April.

A full two months after the conspiracy against Walker began, no credible information has yet been forthcoming from any Commissioner or from Government about the nature of the problems Walker is supposed to have created. The Commission is even refusing to name those Commissioners who organised the proposal of no-confidence against her – removing all but one signature from the copy they sent me of the letter in which some Commissioners put that proposal forward.

Dr McLeod’s disappointment does not stand alone. Crofters, crofting administrators, the Scottish Crofting Federation and a senior Member of the Scottish Parliament have all criticised the behaviour of the Commissioners involved in the move against Walker.

One crofter, summing up his views on social media, concluded that the Commission is in “chaos” and “disarray”, and presently not fit for purpose.

According to the FoI files, even the chief executive of the Crofting Commission, Catriona Maclean, has privately criticised the way Commissioners have handled this affair and she has gone further, with one internal note suggesting the Commission may have underplayed the level of division within their board during discussions with Government. Writing shortly after the convener’s resignation she said that, while the Commission “wanted to reassure the Minister [for Crofting] that they were keen to move forward in a united and positive way”, her own view is that there are “still differences of opinion on the merits of what happened”. In a later commentary she specified disagreement between board members which will require “a focus on healing”.

Such is the sorry state of the crofting regulator. It seems everybody knows it, yet no-one in Government or the Commission is willing to admit it, and, so far as their public statements go, it appears there will be no attempt to investigate what has really gone wrong at the Commission – and to investigate why at least one Commissioner seems to be allowed to break the organisation’s code of conduct with impunity.

Indeed, this despicable soul may even be elected convener and become the new face of crofting regulation – the files show that this was a well-orchestrated manoeuvre, and those in charge had a clear outcome in mind. The files also suggest that, in fact, the campaign against Walker had two main instigators – with at least one of them male.

Allowing the Commission to elect their own convener in such circumstances is not simply a humiliation for the Scottish Government, and for the Crofting Commission as an organisation; it undermines the credibility of crofting regulation as a whole.

Dr Iain MacKinnon

 

Dr Iain MacKinnon is researching the politics of crofting at Coventry University, although the letters on ‘convenergate’ are not part of his academic work.

Main image credit: Carry on Cleo

A New Solicitor for the Crofting Commission

David Findlay - Crofting Commission Solicitor

David Findlay – Crofting Commission Solicitor

David Findlay has been appointed as the Solicitor to the Crofting Commission.

David is from Perthshire (with roots in Lewis), and began his career in Stornoway as a trainee. He then moved to a Perthshire firm, before moving North again to join Macleod & MacCallum’s Rural Land Department. During his time at Macleod & MacCallum he specialised in crofting law, becoming accredited as a specialist by the Law Society of Scotland in 2013.

David will be part of the Commission’s Senior Management Team, comprising:-

  • Catriona Maclean, Chief Executive and Accountable Officer
  • John Toal – Head of Policy and Crofting Duties
  • Donna Smith – Head of Information Systems
  • Joseph Kerr – Head of Regulation
  • Jane Thomas – Head of Corporate and Customer Services

All Change

The regulatory body for crofting has been through a period of intense change.

The old Crofters Commission was abolished by the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. The new Crofting Commission was formed in 2012, and comprised 3 appointed and 6 elected Commissioners.

The Commission’s former Chief Executive Nick Reiter retired in 2012, and Catriona Maclean is now in that post. Mr Reiter’s retirement was followed the next year by the resignation of Donnie Ross, Commissioner for Caithness, Orkney and East Highlands. Mr Ross was replaced by Marina Dennis, who had previously served as a Commissioner with the Crofters Commission.

Sandy Cross, an appointed Commissioner who was to specifically represent the interests of landlords, also resigned, in 2014. He has recently been replaced by David Campbell.

In addition, there have been several changes in the Commission’s legal agency since the early retirement of Donald Smith in 2010.

Is all Publicity Good Publicity?

The Commission have also been in the news (and in this blog) several times over the last few years, as a result of the stance they took on owner-occupiers decrofting – namely that the 2010 Act did not allow them to do so. This was tagged the #decroftingdebacle, and resulted in the Crofting (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2013, which my colleague Brian Inkster considered to be wholly unnecessary.

The #decroftingdebacle was followed by the Commission’s policy to shackle together legally those who owned parts of a croft. The signature of each owner was required on an application to decroft or let, and that policy caused serious problems for many crofters.

The Commission will now change that policy, in light of the decision of the Scottish Land Court in MacGillivary v Crofting Commission (blogged by Brian: Crofting Commission make a U-turn on Decrofting Appeal to the benefit of many owner-occupiers).

The Commission and its staff must surely be looking forward to sailing in calmer waters ahead, and we wish them well in that.

Eilidh Ross MacLellan

The time is ripe for a crofting law blog

The time is ripe for a crofting law blogOver the past three weeks eleven crofting law related news items have been posted at inksters.com:-

Crofting Commission halts decrofting process for owner-occupier crofters

Alternative opinion on owner-occupier crofters’ right to apply for a decrofting direction

When (if ever) is an owner-occupied croft vacant?

Call on Crofting Commission to reverse decrofting decision

Inaction over decrofting debacle – what now for crofters?

Minister re-affirms position on decrofting

Decrofting debated on BBC Radio Shetland

Raasay highlights problems with external ownership in crofting communities

Pairc legal challenge rejected

Inksters and Scottish Crofting Federation launch crofting law helpline

Crofting Law in North and South Uist and Benbecula

Most of these (the first seven listed) relate to the decrofting debacle created by the Crofting Commission when they suddenly announced that they were no longer processing applications to decroft made by owner-occupier crofters. The Crofting Commission believes that it is illegal for them to do so based on an interpretation of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 sought and obtained by them from their legal advisers. I have an alternative interpretation on that. I may not be correct. Crofting law is complex and often open to different interpretations. However, given that it is so complex, I do not believe that the Crofting Regulator should cease the work it has been doing, without question, to date and decree that the interpretation that it has obtained is the correct one. Surely that is the job of the Scottish Land Court and should follow on from an actual challenge of the procedures adopted by the Crofting Commission.

A week before the announcement on owner-occupied croft decrofting a more low key announcement was made on a change of policy by the Commission for decrofting and letting applications. This new policy is that all decrofting and letting applications in respect of crofts with multiple owners, must be submitted by all the owners, in their capacity collectively as the ‘landlord’ of the croft, even in those cases where the application related to a part of the croft held in title by only one of their number.This policy announcement has been overshadowed by the owner-occupier crofter decrofting debacle. It is, however, also a significant matter that needs careful consideration as to the consequenses that the Crofting Commission have now unleashed on that front, again as a result of their particular interpretation of the law. We will no doubt look at this in detail in a specific blog post on the Crofting Law Blog.

The Crofting Commission is new, in that it was established on 1 April 2012 to take over the regulation of crofting from the Crofters Commission. For the first time it consists of six Commissioners elected by crofters with the other three Commissioners having been appointed by Scottish Ministers. Only one of the nine Commissioners served on the former Crofters Commission. They have been in power for less than a year and are already making their mark on the world of crofting law even although they have yet to publish their Plan (it has to date been seen in draft form only). Perhaps that should have come first before pulling apart the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993.

Just before the decrofting debacle began we had the surprise decision by the Scottish Government not to renew the lease of sporting rights to the crofters of Raasay and grant it instead to a company from Ayrshire. This caused uproar and there was a sudden U-Turn by the Scottish Government.

Crofting law appears to be in turmoil in a way that has possibly not been seen since it was introduced in 1886. The time is surely ripe for a crofting law blog to air the issues arising in an open, clear and transparent way.

Brian Inkster