Stage 1 Report on The Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill published

This week saw the publication by the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee (RAIC) of the Stage 1 Report on The Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill.

Supporting farmers and crofters to produce food more sustainably, work with nature and reduce emissions is at the heart of new legislation. The Bill will reform how the government will support farming and food production in Scotland and will legislate to introduce a new framework of support to replace the current Common Agricultural Policy.

The Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 28 September 2023 by Mairi Gougeon, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, and referred to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee (RAIC) for consideration at Stage 1. The Committee ran a call for views on the Bill between 27 October and 24 November 2023 (72 responses gave consent for publication and these are available to view on the Committee’s web pages*).

The RAIC then took evidence from the Scottish Government bill team on 29 November 2023 and held four roundtable discussions with a broad range of stakeholders, with each discussion in part focused on one of the objectives of the Bill.

The Committee’s evidence gathering concluded with the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands on 21 February 2024. 

A consultative event with approximately 40 farmers, crofters, other land managers and representatives from rural community and development organisations was also held on 19 February 2024 in order to engage directly with agricultural and rural development practitioners to hear their views about future agriculture policy and the Bill. 

The Committee’s stage 1 inquiry was preceded by a series of pre-legislative scrutiny evidence sessions to give the Committee a broad understanding of Scottish agriculture and future challenges and opportunities. 

A number of fact-finding visits to farms over the course of the pre-legislative scrutiny and stage 1 inquiry were also undertaken by the Committee, including a visits to several dairy farms in Kirkcudbrightshire in August 2023 and the Kirkton and Auchtertyre hill farms at the Hill and Mountain Research Centre of Scotland’s Rural College in Crianlarich in October 2023.

The parliamentary debate for stage 1 will be held on Wednesday 27 March 2024 covering:

You can find the full Stage 1 report here

*The 72 responses to the call for views are published on the Committee’s web pages and can be found here

The Scottish Parliament Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill page can be found here and hosts minutes of meetings, correspondence, reports and all other relevant materials to relating the Committee’s overview of the Bill development.