Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976

The [1955 c. 21.] Crofters (Scotland) Act 1955

4 At the end of section 1(1) (constitution and general functions of the Commission), there shall be added the words " and the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976. ".

5 In section 2 (particular powers and duties of the Commission)—

(a) in subsection (1)(d), after the word "Act" there shall be inserted the words " and the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976 ";

(b) in subsection (3), for the words " sheriff-clerk " there shall be substituted the words " principal clerk of the Land Court " , and the words from " and the provisions " to the end shall cease to have effect;

(c) in subsection (4), after the word " Act" there shall be inserted the words " and the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976. "

6 In section 8 (assignation of croft)—

(a) for subsections (1) and (2) there shall be substituted the following subsections—

“(1) A crofter shall not assign his croft—

(a) to a member of his family unless he obtains the consent in writing of his landlord or, failing such consent, the consent in writing of the Commission on an application made to them ;

(b) to a person other than a member of his family unless he obtains the consent in writing of the Commission on an application made to them. (2) A landlord who has given his consent in pursuance of subsection (1)(a) above shall notify the Commission of the assignation and the name of the assignee.”;

(b) in subsection (5), after the word " Commission" where it first occurs there shall be inserted the words " in a case where he is required to obtain such consent in pursuance of subsection (1) above ";

(c) at the end there shall be added the following subsections—

“(7) Any reference in this section to a croft shall include a reference to a part of a croft, being a part consisting of any right in pasture or grazing land deemed by virtue of section 3(5) of this Act to form part of a croft.

(8) In this section " member of his family ", in relation to a crofter, has the same meaning as "member of the crofter's family " has in section 10(7) of this Act.”

7 In section 15(1) (Commission to obtain information and to compile register of crofts)—

(a) for the word " acreage " there shall be substituted the word " extent " ;

(b) at the end there shall be added the words " and the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976. "

8 In section 16 (vacant crofts)—

(a) in the proviso to subsection (4), for the words from " an application " to the end there shall be substituted the words " the Secretary of State is considering an application made to him under subsection (3) above for consent to let, or the Commission are considering an application made to them under subsection (9) below for a direction that the croft shall cease to be a croft ";

(b) in subsection (8), after the words " section or" there shall be inserted the words " by the landlord to the Secretary of State ";

(c) in subsections (11 A) and (13), after the word "section" there shall be inserted the words " and section 16A of this Act ";

(d) at the end of the section there shall be added the following subsection—

“(14) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that this section has effect (and shall be deemed always to have had effect since 27th August 1961) as if—

(a) a person who has become the owner-occupier of a croft were required under subsection (1) above within one month of the date on which he became such owner-occupier to give notice thereof to the Commission ; and

(b) any reference in the section other than in subsection (1) above to a landlord included a reference to an owner-occupier.”

9 In section 17(1)(a) (absentee crofters), for the words " ten miles " there shall be substituted the words " sixteen kilometres ".

10 In section 22(5) (power of Secretary of State to give financial assistance to crofters), after the word "building" there shall be inserted the words " or towards the provision or improvement of roads, or water or electricity or gas supplies " and for the words " such erection, improvement or rebuilding " there shall be substituted the words " the works in question ".

11 In section 27(1) (common grazings), for the words "forty shillings " and " five shillings " there shall be substituted respectively the words " £10 " and " 50 pence ".

12 In section 30(4) (provisions as to entry and inspection), for the words " five pounds " there shall be substituted the word " £10 ".

13 In section 31(2) (building grants and loans to owner-occupiers of like economic status as crofters), for paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(b) is either—

(i) a holding of which the area does not exceed 30 hectares, or

(ii) a holding of which the annual rent, if it were a croft let to a crofter under this Act and the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1961, would not in the opinion of the Secretary of State exceed £100, or

(iii) a holding which exceeds 30 hectares and of which the annual rent if it were a croft so let would in the opinion of the Secretary of State exceed £100, but which in the opinion of the Secretary of State is not substantially larger than 30 hectares or is capable of being let as a croft at an annual rent not substantially in excess of £100 ;”.

14 In section 34(1) (determination of disputes, etc.) after the word " Act" there shall be inserted the words " or the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976 ".

15 In Schedule 3 (provisions as to security, etc., of loans)—

(a) in paragraph 1, for the words " bond which shall be a charge on " there shall be substituted the words " heritable security over ";

(b) in paragraph 4, for the word " bond " there shall be substituted the words " heritable security ".