Chamber and committees

They are not set out in law, though, are they?

I will be quick, convener. I have been struck by how we discharge the obligation on climate. Perhaps I could direct this question to Mr Macleod. You will be aware that the Scottish Government is looking at a carbon land tax. Would you agree that creating a mechanism and a financial incentive is the best way to do that? You have said that a lot of your clients desperately want to move forward with their investments in this area. Would a carbon land tax be an appropriate way forward? Could something on how landowners are meeting their obligations under a carbon land tax go into land management plans?

So, the issue is wealth in its broadest sense—not just land ownership but what the land generates.

Yes. I want to ask about the witnesses’ views on resumption—in other words, a landlord’s ability to take back land under a tenancy agreement before the lease is concluded. I think that Ms Watt and Mr Dunlop both have concerns about the provisions in the bill.

You have already mentioned last week’s evidence from the Scottish Land Commission, which is concerned about the imbalance between compensation that is available on resumption and those who are offered an incontestable notice to quit. Ms Watt, do you want to comment on that?

Does that reflect patterns in changing land use and diversification? Another example that comes to mind relates to a solar farm. There might still be an element of agricultural operation, but it might be quite different, and there would be the lease for the generation.

Possibly, and then I will move to the next question. Mr Dunlop, does your last point not make the case for a model environmental lease? You said that it is very difficult to crowbar environmental improvements into standard agricultural leases.

Do Ms Watt or Mr Colquhoun have anything to add?

I would like to explore the difference between the transfer test in the bill, which applies to the seller prior to sale, and what you wanted to see in the bill, which was a public interest test that is applied as the land is being sold and which puts conditions on the future ownership. Will you comment on that, please?

Okay. You have covered this in relation to land management plans, but should the transfer test also apply to aggregate landholdings that are over 1,000 hectares?