Chamber and committees

Croft owners are not subject to the provisions of Section 22 of the Crofting (Scotland) Act 1993 which empowers the Crofters Commission to take action against absentee croft tenants. However, any croft owner (whether or not absent from the croft) could be required to re-let their croft. If having been required by the Crofters Commission to re-let the croft the owner fails to do so, then the Crofters Commission may exercise its power to advertise the tenancy for re-let.

The risk of a perceived or real conflict of interest was recognised at an early stage and a clear demarcation of responsibilities put in place. The Chief Executive of the Crofters Commission only undertakes some of the duties, at Head of Division level, with responsibility for crofting. His responsibilities relate to crofting policy, crofting grant schemes and the Crofting Reform Bill. Sponsorship of the Crofters Commission is separate and is the responsibility of the Head of Land Use and Rural Policy Division.

The arrangements put in place were designed to achieve better integration of the policy responsibility for crofting issues in the department with the delivery of services to crofters by the Crofters Commission itself, as part of the transfer of Scottish Executive functions to the Crofters Commission as proposed in the draft Crofting Reform Bill and the proposed transfer of the Crofters Commission to non‑departmental public body status.

Yes and there are some who do.

Yes. Crofting legislation applies to all croft owners on the same basis.

No.

Crofters and crofting communities were consulted on the draft bill in a full consultation which ended on 13 June 2005. There were 11 public meetings attended by crofters and crofting interests during that period. The 155 responses to that consultation are now being analysed by my officials.

On 6 September, the First Minister said “We will discuss the detail fully with crofting interests before the Bill is introduced in its final form”.

We intend to have further discussions with appropriate individuals and groups as we finalise the Bill for introduction in the Parliament.

Whether or not the land at Taynuilt was decrofted is irrelevant so far as the promotion of affordable housing is concerned.

The provision of housing is identified in crofting legislation as a reasonable purpose for which land may be decrofted. In the Taynuilt case the democratically elected local authority had determined that it was in the public interest, and indicated in the local plan, that the land in question should be used to meet housing demand in the Taynuilt area. Outline planning permission had been granted.

It would not have been in the public interest for the unelected Crofters Commission to take a decision which would impede, complicate and add to the cost of, but would be unlikely to prevent, that planned change of use.

It is good for crofting for the Crofters Commission to regulate effectively and within the limits of its powers.

The provision of housing is identified in crofting legislation as a reasonable purpose for which land may be decrofted. In the Taynuilt case, the elected local authority had determined that it was in the public interest, and indicated in the local plan, that the land in question should be used to meet housing demand in the Taynuilt area. Outline planning permission had been granted.

It is for the Crofters Commission to consider the interests of any crofting community. It is not for the commission to act as a secondary planning authority.

Visitors to the visitscotland.com website were given incorrect information when trying to book accommodation in the holiday home and caravan site sector between 27 and 30 May. Due to a technical error, a number of the establishments in this part of the website were mistakenly shown as being fully booked. Once identified, the problem was dealt with as a matter of urgency and quickly rectified. The number of businesses affected and the cost to them of any missed bookings over the few days during which the problem existed is not known.

Ministers recognise the importance of providing an effective infrastructure to give everyone access to the full range of training and retraining opportunities. The Executive’s strategy for the Enterprise Networks, Smart Successful Scotland, sets the context for much of this activity. The Highlands and Islands Enterprise network achieve this by working with partners such as Communities Scotland, local authorities, learndirect Scotland, Careers Scotland and Sector Skills Councils.