Chamber and committees

My other question is on game damage, which I am a bit confused about. That will include damage to fixed equipment. Could you explain that? I am imagining a deer charging into a farm building and knocking it down, but that is obviously not what you meant, is it?

I will push a bit more on that so that I understand the position. We know that Forestry and Land Scotland, various charities and Scottish Natural Heritage—or NatureScot; I am not sure which it is calling itself today—are big landowners in Scotland. Was concentration of power perceived as a problem with all those types of owners, not just private landowners?

Do you think that five years is reasonable? Forestry and Land Scotland’s land management plans are for considerably longer than five years. Bearing that in mind, and the comment that you have just made, what do you estimate to be the cost of producing a management plan?

I agree with management plans. I tried to look at the management plan for Glen Prosen, which was purchased off the market two years ago. There is still no management plan. In answer to my question, Forestry and Land Scotland told me that there is still no duration for how long it will take to get a management plan, any ideas of costings or whether the community has been able to feed into that. Is that situation something that you would be trying to prevent?

So for drawing up a long-term management plan, do you think that a cost of £15,000 to £20,000 is not unreasonable?

For 3,000 hectares, is it not unreasonable? I do not know.

The timescale for the bill would preclude that, would it not?

I am struggling to understand. In relation to the concentration of power, are you talking about big housing developments or small housing developments?

Our main item of business is our first evidence session on the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill at stage 1. We will take evidence from the Scottish Land Commission, and I am pleased to welcome Mike Russell, the chair; Emma Cooper, the head of land rights and responsibilities; Bob McIntosh, the tenant farming commissioner; and Hamish Trench, the chief executive. We have allocated quite a lot of time for this session, but that does not mean that we have to have long answers to all the—I hope—short questions.

Before we start, I will make a declaration. I am happy to make this declaration, which I will make at every meeting at which we discuss the bill. For the record, as per my entry in the register of members’ interests, I own approximately 500 acres in Moray, which I farm in-hand. Approximately 50 acres of that land is woodland. Under a non-agricultural tenancy, I am a tenant for a further 500 acres in Moray. I have a secure tenancy under the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1991. When possible, I sometimes take in annual lets for grassland to help to feed my cattle. All the details can be found in my entry in the register of members’ interests. I hope that that clarifies my position.

I will start with a gentle question, which is probably for Hamish Trench. Can you outline the research that led to the recommendation that further reforms are needed to address the issues of concentrated ownership?

I do not want you to tread on the toes of another committee member, but go with that question.