The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Commencement No. 12) Regulations 2020

Made: 9th December 2020

Laid before the Scottish Parliament: 11th December 2020

Coming into force: 28th February 2021

The Scottish Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 130(2) of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016[^f00001].

Citation and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Commencement No. 12) Regulations 2020 and come into force on 28 February 2021.

Appointed day

2

• (1) 28 February 2021 is the day appointed for the coming into force, for all remaining purposes, of the provisions of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 referred to in paragraph (2).

• (2) The provisions are—

• (a) section 110 (tenant’s offer to relinquish 1991 Act tenancy),

• (b) section 111 (tenant’s offer to relinquish 1991 Act tenancy: consequential modifications).

Signed

GRAEME DEY — Authorised to sign by the Scottish Ministers — 9th December 2020

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations bring into force sections 110 and 111 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (“the Act”). The Bill for the Act received Royal Assent on 22 April 2016. Sections 125 to 127, 130 and 131 came into force the following day.

Section 110 of the Act inserts a new Part 3A into the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1991 (“the 1991 Act”) to provide for a process whereby a 1991 Act tenant can relinquish their tenancy to the landlord in exchange for compensation or, if the landlord does not buy them out, can assign the tenancy to a new entrant or to a person progressing in farming, for the tenancy’s market value.

Section 110 of the Act was partially brought into force by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Commencement No. 3, Transitory and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2016, for the limited purpose of making regulations under sections 32B(1), 32D(1) and (2), 32G(3)(b), 32J(5) and 32Q(8) of the 1991 Act.

Section 111 of the Act makes consequential modifications to the 1991 Act and the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 (“the 2003 Act”) in light of new Part 3A of the 1991 Act and allows the Scottish Ministers to modify by regulations, the effect of the new Part 3A process in relation to tenants in certain types of tenancy.

Section 111 of the Act was partially brought into force by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Commencement No. 3, Transitory and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2016, for the limited purpose of making regulations under section 74A of the 2003 Act.

Regulation 2 appoints 28 February 2021 for the coming into force of sections 110 and 111 of the Act for all remaining purposes.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 2016 asp 18.