…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
Image: Land Reform Minister, Aileen McLeod at launch of Land Reform Bill with Carluke Development Trust. Photo by Scottish Government. UPDATE 13 August 2015 My Written Evidence to the Rural Affairs Committee The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill was published by
Continue readingThere is a lot of complete nonsense being spun in the media today about the alleged refusal of Scotland to contribute to the financial support of the Royal family. Front page splashes on the Times and the Telegraph has
Continue readingThe provisions in the Scotland Bill for the devolution of the management of the Crown Estate in Scotland are complex and unclear (see previous blog for background). Last week, the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee (RACCE)
Continue readingIntroduction One of the Smith Commission agreements was that responsibility for the management and revenues of the Crown Estate in Scotland should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament. (1) This Agreement reflected the widespread consensus in Scotland that the management
Continue readingThis blog is long overdue (as indeed are many) but I understand that the City of Edinburgh Council’s Audit Committee will shortly be considering a report into the Parliament House fiasco. It is therefore appropriate to publish this second update on
Continue readingImage: Aileen McLeod MSP speaking at conference on Scottish Land and Estates. This month, the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, Aileen McLeod MSP gave two significant speeches. The first was on 19th May to the Annual Meeting
Continue readingImage: Badinloskin, Sutherland This is the Keynote Address by Professor James Hunter given to the Community Land Scotland Annual Conference, New Drumossie Hotel, Inverness, 21 May 2015. James Hunter In September 2009, the best part of six years ago, I was opening
Continue readingImage: Commission on Local Tax Reform. Oral Evidence Session 2 Today, the Commission on Local Tax Reform held its second oral evidence session. I am member of the Commission representing the Scottish Green Party. The event was streamed live and
Continue readingDick Balharry, one of Scotland’s foremost naturalists died today. Last week, in Glen Feshie, he was awarded the Geddes Environment Medal for a lifetime’s achievement in environmental work by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (pictured above). I am grateful to
Continue readingScottish Land and Estates, the organisation that represents some landowners in Scotland, attracted a fair bit of press coverage last month for their claim that potential reforms to Scotland’s agricultural tenancy laws could leave the Scottish Government open to compensation
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