GPSJ - SPRING 2025 - Flipbook - Page 6
GPSJ
NEWS
Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill
published
New legislation to support
crofters
The Crofting and Scottish Land
Court Bill will simplify legislation
to make crofting regulation less
onerous.
The Bill, published in June,
will strengthen the role of grazing
committees sharing common
land and give farmers, and their
communities, a greater say in how
the land they work on is used.
The Bill will also amalgamate
the Scottish Land Court and the
Lands Tribunal for Scotland to
create one cohesive body, the
Scottish Land Court, retaining the
statutory requirement for a Gaelic
speaking member.
Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie
said:
“Crofting is at the heart of
communities across many parts
of the Highlands and Islands
and Argyll. Crofters across
these areas are cultivating land,
tending livestock, protecting the
environment and biodiversity. In
the last ten years, more than £31
million in Crofting Agricultural
Grant Scheme funding has been
committed and, since 2007,
the Scottish Government has
approved £26 million of Croft
House Grant payments.
“Existing crofting legislation
is complex and di昀케cult to
navigate. This Bill allows us to
make a range of simpli昀椀cations
and improvements to the way
crofting is administered, which will
bene昀椀t crofters and the Crofting
Commission to better recognise
the vital contribution they make to
their communities and maintain
unique local heritage and culture.
“The merger of the Scottish
Land Court and the Lands Tribunal
for Scotland into the expanded
Scottish Land Court will provide
a more e昀케cient administration of
the services o昀昀ered at present
and result in greater simplicity,
coherence and 昀氀exibility.”
Cross continent recognition will help boost
profession amid recruitment struggles
The bodies representing
Environmental Health
O昀케cers (EHOs) in England,
Wales, Northern Ireland and
in Australia have signed an
agreement which could help
boost recruitment into the
profession in each country.
The Presidents of the Chartered
Institute of Environmental Health
(CIEH) and Environmental
Health Australia (EHA) signed a
Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) which develops a clear
pathway for EHOs in England,
Wales and Northern Ireland to be
able to practice in Australia and
vice versa.
Environmental health is one of
the hardest professional roles to
昀椀ll in the four countries with many
vacancies remaining open for
months and the chronic shortage
of EHOs is causing concern for the
future of public health protection
as a result.
CIEH President Mark Elliott
and EHA President Melissa Burn
signed the agreement following
the culmination of many years
of negotiation and mapping
of competencies between the
countries.
It is hoped that this agreement
could be used as a blueprint
for similar MoU’s between
other countries and help tackle
the workforce challenges in
environmental health globally.
CIEH President Mark Elliott said:
“The signing of the MoU with our
counterparts in Australia marks a
signi昀椀cant and exciting milestone
in the history of the environmental
health profession in our countries.
England, Wales and Northern
Ireland and Australia share
ongoing challenges in terms of
recruitment and the future of the
profession is under threat without
action such as this being taken.
“We hope this agreement
will open up doors and remove
barriers for EHOs, should they
wish to relocate, to utilise their
wide armoury of skills and
knowledge for the bene昀椀t of
communities in our countries
and help boost under pressure
environmental health workforces.”
LGA statement on NAO report on developer
funding system
Cllr Adam Hug, housing and
planning spokesperson for the
Local Government Association,
which represents councils,
said:
“Developer contributions play
a vital part in delivering the
6
infrastructure and a昀昀ordable
housing that communities need.
Councils work hard to secure
these contributions, but the
current system is not delivering the
full bene昀椀ts it should.
“It’s right that the National Audit
O昀케ce recognises the challenges
GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SECTOR JOURNAL SPRING 2025
councils face, and the need for
further capacity and capability
support for council planning
departments.
“Councils need a developer
contribution system that is
transparent, e昀케cient and e昀昀ective.
There also needs to be urgent
changes made to the viability
system – for example, removing
the requirement to factor in an
assumed developer or landowner
return or removal of viability
assessments as a material
planning consideration entirely.”
