SCF Head Office
Unit 26
Kyle Industrial Estate
Kyle of Lochalsh
IV40 8AX
SCOTLAND
Tel: 01599 530 005
Fax: 01599 618 038
Consultations
SCF Response to the Pack interim report
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the interim report of the Inquiry into future support for agriculture in Scotland. SCF is the only member-led organisation dedicated to promoting crofting and is the largest association of small-scale food producers in Scotland. Its mission is to safeguard and promote the rights, livelihoods and culture of crofters and their communities. Working through our membership structure we can respond authoritively at local, national and international levels on the many issues affecting crofting and crofting communities. We have presented here comments gathered from our area representatives and advisors, not in any order of priority.
Brian Pack Inquiry - Interim Report
Thursday, February 04, 2010
The Inquiry into Future Support for Agriculture in Scotland invites interested organisations and individuals to respond to this public consultation as part its Inquiry.
Attached is the report as well as a number of issues for consideration.
Responses should be sent to: BrianPackInquiry@scotland.gsi.gov.uk and they should be in no later than the 5th of March 2010.
The latest news on the inquiry can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/farmingrural/Agriculture/inquiry/latest
Interim_Report.pdf; Issues_for_Consideration.doc
SCF response to the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Bill consultation May 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the proposals put forward by the Scottish Government (SG) to amend crofting law. The consultation document is meticulous, is well written and clearly laid out, which is to be commended. We appreciate that the Crofting Futures Team also presented this document at a wide selection of venues in the crofting counties which gave crofters the opportunity to get clarification and to give opinions.
We are responding on behalf of our membership, currently in excess of 2000 individuals plus their families, who have been widely consulted and given the opportunity to contribute to the draft. We trust therefore that this will be given due weight.
Crofting legislation needs to be placed in the wider context of food production, land management, environment and social well-being in rural Scotland but it is our opinion that this bill fails to do this. We attempt to place crofting in this context before answering the consultation questions.
For a full copy of the SCF response please click on the PDF below
dCRB_response_-_SCF.pdfdCRB_response_-_SCF.pdf
SCF and EFNCP joint response to SG CAP Health Check
Thursday, May 14, 2009
SCF and EFNCP joint response to the Scottish Government consultation on CAP Health Check implementation.
SG_Health_Check_EFNCP-SCF-Response.pdf
SCF evidence to The House of Lords LFASS Enquiry
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Scottish Crofting Foundation (SCF) welcomes the opportunity to input to this review of the LFA scheme by the House of Lords. Please see the attached pdf file for the full response.
SCF and EFNCP response to LFASS consultation
Monday, December 22, 2008
A joint response by the Scottish Crofting Foundation and the European
Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism to the Scottish
Government consultation on the Less favoured Area Support Scheme,
December 2008.
LFASS_2008_consultation_response_-_SCF.pdf
SCF response to the petition by Mrs Netta MacKenzie
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Scottish Crofting Foundation response to the request by the Petitions Committee regarding the petition raised by Netta MacKenzie, PE1201
Response_to_Netta_MacKenzies_Petition.doc
Summary of SCF members’ response to the CoIoC recommendations
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
There is consensus that the CoIoC Final Report is a useful reference document that can be used to steer crofting reform, whilst recognising that not all of the recommendations are acceptable. There has been opinion at both ends of the spectrum from ‘bin Shucksmith’ to ‘this is the best thing to have happened to crofting’, with the majority recognising that crofting has problems and that change has to happen, but carefully. The whole Inquiry process has been very useful in stimulating discussion on crofting.
Summary_of_SCF_members_views_re_CoIoC.doc
SCF Response to CAP Healthcheck
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
SCF response to the future implementation of the common agricultural policy in scotland - the cap ‘healthcheck’
SCF Submission to Rural Housing Inquiry
Monday, April 28, 2008
The Scottish Crofting Foundation (SCF) is pleased to offer the following evidence to the Scottish Parliament rural housing enquiry.
SCF is the only representative organisation for crofters and crofting in Scotland. There are approximately 18,000 crofts in the ‘crofting counties’ of Inverness, Argyll, Orkney, Shetland and Eileanan an Iar. Crofters and their families comprise around 10%, or 30,000, of the Highlands and Islands population forming 30% of households on the mainland and 65% of households in Skye, Eileanan an Iar and Shetland. Average crofting household income is £21,000, and crofting provides around 30% of that income1. 25% of agricultural land in the Highlands and Islands is under crofting tenure. Crofting has been successful in maintaining populations in some of Scotland’s most remote areas by giving people access to land, homes and jobs. Housing support given to crofters has historically given excellent value for public money in rural housing provision, but that support has been massively devalued over the last twenty years.
Housing_Inquiry_SCF_submission.pdf
SCF contibution to the Food Policy Discussion
Friday, April 25, 2008
Scottish Crofting Foundation (SCF) is pleased to offer the following contribution to the discussion on the National Food Policy for Scotland. SCF is the only representative and campaigning organisation for crofters and crofting in Scotland. We congratulate the Scottish Government on this policy initiative which has far reaching importance for our members.
Food production in Scotland must concentrate on quality, local provision, provenance and environment. Maintaining food production, especially livestock, in upland, peripheral and island areas is of inestimable social, economic and environmental importance. Small scale agriculture, such as crofting, has been successful in maintaining populations in some of Scotland’s most remote areas. By contrast, industrial scale agriculture driven by a commercial UK food policy, whether in the Straths of Sutherland or the arable prairies of the East of England, has cleared rural populations leaving a degraded environment and a countryside that is the preserve of the very rich.
Consultation on responsibility and cost sharing for animal Health and welfare:
Friday, February 29, 2008
This consultation aims to engage with all those with an interest in developing policy on Responsibility and Cost Sharing (RCS) for Animal Health and Welfare. It builds on our December 2006 consultation on the principles of RCS. Part 1 of the consultation sets out a range of options for establishing a new framework. Part 2 contains specific proposals on sharing responsibilities and costs for seven Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) measures of direct relevance to the cattle and sheep industries, the animal by-products industry, abattoirs, and laboratories interested in TSE and genotype testing.
In addition to the main consultation document we have developed a Discussion Guide to assist smaller groups and individuals to address some of the key questions in the consultation.
The closing date for comments on this consultation is 15 April 2008.
Please see : http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/ahw-nextsteps/index.htm
Extension of Crofting Areas
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
RUSSELL CONSULTS ON EXTENSION OF CROFTING AREA
Michael Russell today launched a consultation on proposals to extend
crofting to areas outside the traditional Crofting Counties.
The Environment Minister is seeking views on proposals to extend
crofting tenure to include the islands of Arran and Cumbrae and the
remaining parts of the Highlands and Islands not currently designated.
Launching the consultation, Mr Russell said:
"The Scottish Government recognises the importance of crofting to rural
economies and the great potential there is to expand this further across
Scotland.
"I would urge anyone with an interest in crofting who wishes to have
their say to respond to the consultation, in order for their views to be
considered in relation to this exciting proposal.
"The consultation will run alongside the on-going work of the Committee
of Inquiry, which is currently considering a vision for the future of
crofting, which is due to report in early 2008."
The consultation runs from 19 December 2007 to 12 March 2008. Documents
can be accessed at www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/Current
Evidence to the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Inquiry into Scotland’s Hill and Island Areas
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
The Scottish Crofting Foundation urge this inquiry to consider the Scottish uplands and islands in a global context.
Our recent submission to the Shucksmith Committee dealt with many specific issues that crofting faces at the moment and may be of use to members of your committee. However, there has been a growth in systems thinking in policy making (specifically the growing importance of work being done by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) which recognises the interconnected nature of policy and of global resource use. This makes it essential that your committee consider how aspects of globalisation may benefit or threaten Scotland’s hill and island areas.
RSE_hill_and_islands_inquiry.pdf
SCF - Evidence to the Committee of Inquiry on Crofting
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Scottish Crofting Foundation Evidence to the Committee of Inquiry on Crofting 31 July 2007