Part 4: Miscellaneous
Section 29 - Code of Practice on Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture
142.This section places a duty on the Scottish Ministers to prepare and publish guidance on sustainable and regenerative agriculture within one year of this section coming into force. The guidance is to be known as the Code of Practice on Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture and is to contain, among other things:
an explanation of what the Scottish Ministers are classifying as sustainable and regenerative agriculture,
the agriculture activities and methods that they consider best practice for sustainable and regenerative agriculture,
and such other information about sustainable and regenerative agriculture as they consider appropriate.
143.As the code is to set out what the Scottish Ministers consider to be sustainable and regenerative agriculture, no definitions are contained in the Act. Part of the reason for this approach is to enable the definitions and guidance to adapt over time in light of changing practices and what is considered sustainable and regenerative in this context.
144.While what constitutes sustainable agriculture is reasonably self-explanatory, regenerative farming is broadly any form of farming activity which both generates production and improves the environment. Practitioners try, for example, to disturb the soil as little as possible, following ‘no-till’ methods which do not disturb the complex network of wormholes and fungal hyphae in the soil. That, in turn, improves the capacity of the soil as a carbon store, and should help reduce reliance on artificial fertilisers.
145.The Code is to be reviewed by the Scottish Ministers on a 5-year cycle and they are to consult such people as they consider likely to be interested in or affected by it. Once published (or republished), the Scottish Ministers must promote the awareness of the code as they consider appropriate. They must also do so at other times that they consider appropriate.
Section 30 - Continuing professional development
146.This section enables the Scottish Ministers to make regulations that impose continuing professional development (CPD) requirements on farmers, crofters, land managers, those who work in agriculture (whether or not as employees) such as farm workers or family members or friends who assist with farming activities or other persons directly or indirectly connected with farming etc. or the wider rural economy.
147.Subsection (3) sets out a non-exhaustive list of various requirements and other rules that the Scottish Ministers may make provision about, from the imposition of the amount of CPD that a particular category of person (such as farmers) must carry out as well as exemptions, the types of activity that qualify, who may provide the activity, how it is to be monitored and enforced, and any circumstances in which someone ordinarily required to undertake particular CPD activities, or a particular amount of CPD, is not required to do so etc. Compliance with the relevant CPD requirements may be made a condition of certain support schemes.
148.Financial and other assistance for the completion of such CPD requirements is a supportable purpose contained in schedule 1.
149.It is open to the Scottish Ministers to provide for CPD schemes, or aspects of them, to be provided by other persons or organisations (such as agricultural colleges).
150.Before making regulations under this section, the Scottish Ministers must consult such persons as they consider appropriate.
Section 31 – Monitoring and evaluation of continuing professional development
151.This section introduces a duty on the Scottish Ministers to monitor the impact of each CPD scheme made under section 30, and to prepare at least one report on the impact and effectiveness of each scheme. The section gives Ministers flexibility in the manner and the timescales to undertake monitoring and reporting, including the number and frequency of reports. However, for the purposes of monitoring a CPD scheme, the Scottish Ministers must, in particular, consider the matters in subsection (2). These relate to accessibility, appropriateness and proportionality, and may be altered, by regulations subject to the affirmative procedure.
152.For these purposes, a CPD scheme is a set of CPD activities which a person of a certain description (such as a farmer) may or must undertake as a result of the regulations under that section. This reflects that there are likely to be a range of activities that a person may undertake to maintain any CPD requirements.
Section 32 - Prescribing and regulating means of identifying animals
153.This section amends section 8 of the Animal Health Act 1981 to allow for the Scottish Ministers to make provision generally in relation to the identification of animals (rather than just the “marking” of animals, as is currently the case). This reflects that identification of animals is now broader than the “marking” of animals or the application of identification devices. In particular, it may involve the keeping of passports, records and databases and the procedures for scanning identification devices and this amendment ensures provision can be made for that.
Section 33 – Food security statements
154.Section 33 requires the Scottish Ministers to prepare a statement about food security in Scotland, at least once in every period of three years, a copy of which must be laid before the Scottish Parliament and published. The first statement must be published within three years of the commencement of the provision. This requirement is expected to sit alongside (but not duplicate) the similar duty that exists in relation to UK food security under section 19 of the Agriculture Act 2020.
Section 34 and schedule 2 - Repeals and minor modifications
155.This section and the accompanying schedule make a variety of repeals and minor modifications. Part 1 of schedule 2 repeals legislation that is typically spent – that is, no longer relevant or has been superseded in some way. However, three repeals of note are:
the repeal of section 6 of the Small Landholders (Scotland) Act 1911,
the repeal of section 17 of the Agriculture Act 1986, and
the repeal of section 8 of the Agriculture (Retained EU Law and Data) (Scotland) Act 2020.
156.The repeal of section 6 of the 1911 Act removes a power to make or guarantee advances, either directly or indirectly to land banks or co-operative or credit societies having for their object or one of their objects the assistance of tenants, landholders or statutory small tenants, in the stocking, equipment, and profitable working of their holdings. This was used for a wide range of purposes but is now redundant given the powers in the Act.
157.The repeal of section 17 of the 1986 Act removes the duty on the Scottish Ministers to balance certain factors when carrying out their functions in relation to agriculture. This has been replaced by the duties in Part 1 of this Act.
158.The repeal of section 8 of ARELDS is because that section is no longer required. The legislation relating to the EU Food Promotion Scheme, which it provided a power to revoke, has already been revoked by the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023.
159.The minor modifications in Part 2 make a number of small changes to agricultural legislation, many as a consequence of the repeals in Part 1.
