Land Reform What counts as success Graeme Beale

Land Reform: What counts as success? Graeme Beale Head of Rural Communities Research, Scottish Government

Land Reform 2016 Story so-far Land Reform Act Passed March 2016 (Secondary legislation and commencement actions over the next two years) Some key features for this audience: • Urban and rural coverage • Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement • The Scottish Land Commission • Transparency • Community Engagement Guidance and measurement • Right to buy land to further sustainable development • (Also Agricultural Holdings provisions, though these are now being handled separately. )

Land Reform 2016 Story so-far Looking forwards – research challenges: The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 places a duty on Scottish Government to produce guidance on community engagement with decisions relating to land, and to monitor the effectiveness of that guidance and the engagement delivered through it. The Act commits SG to produce an evaluation after 3 years, and then at least every 5 years subsequently.

Land Reform – Recent SG Sponsored Research

Land Reform – Recent SG Sponsored Research This research looks at four different but related issues: • The impact of diversity of ownership, on the socio-economic fabric of rural communities • A process evaluation of the Scottish Land Fund • Good Practice in overcoming barriers to community land-based activities and • Empowering communities and stakeholders in rural land use.

Land Reform – Recent SG Sponsored Research Diversity of Scale of Ownership Research Aim: to identify the local impacts of differing scales of rural land ownership in Scotland on social, economic and environmental outcomes.

Land Reform – Recent SG Sponsored Research Diversity of Scale of Ownership Research Methods: Paired case study areas measured over the past 100 years. Case studies involved quantitative assessments of the demographic, economic and environmental consequences; also qualitative work including in-depth interviews and focus groups.

Land Reform – Recent SG Sponsored Research Diversity of Scale of Ownership Research Findings • A wide range of factors influence the socio economic outcomes for a community. These include: • Proximity to large urban areas • Infrastructure changes both fixed and public transport • Changing industries – fewer employed in land industries more in tourism • Societal change e. g. falling church attendance and fewer community cohesion opportunities • Land use patterns & land ownership – but not at the top of the list

Land Reform – Recent SG Sponsored Research Diversity of Scale of Ownership Research Findings • Differences due to ownership structures – is there good news with a more fragmented structure? Areas with fragmented-ownership did, however, exhibit higher agricultural output and higher population growth than concentrated-ownership parishes, though not necessarily attributable to ownership scale. (Thomson et al. 2016)

Land Reform – Recent SG Sponsored Research Land Fund Evaluation Approach • Ph. D Intern evaluating data from Big Lottery & Hi. E and speaking to communities groups Findings: • Generally viewed well by the communities that have accessed it • May be a need to think about revenue more about support with applications • Need to think about Hi. E vs non-Hi. E areas • Respondent concerns over • Urban expansion • Risks in terms of LAs using the fund to avoid ‘booking’ loses

Land Reform – Recent SG Sponsored Research Empowering Communities in Land Use Approach • Dialogue Matters Consultancy and Prof. Mark Reed, • Interviews with environmental professionals in Scotland • 2 internet survey of public sector and third sector organisations • General one on opportunities and challenges of engagement (n 75) • Specific one on success stories (23 responses) • Mapped against an empowerment model from Bovaird

Land Reform – Recent SG Sponsored Research Empowering Communities in Land Use Findings • Positive signs around language and enthusiasm • Lots of examples of shared planning • Very few examples of shared delivery • Lots of organisations seemed to be starting from scratch rather than incorporating National Standards for Community Engagement, charrettes or other systematic approaches • Challenges around having sufficient staff training, organisational resource and culture in some areas about being ready to take an active part in coproducing land use services.