In Parliament

Bob Doris (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (SNP)

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the potential implications for its policies on land reform and land use of a carbon emissions land tax. (S6O-03883)

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands (Mairi Gougeon)

Ministers meet regularly to ensure that work that is under way across Government takes into consideration potential cross-portfolio implications.

Bob Doris

As a member of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, I am currently scrutinising land reform legislation. Under initial Scottish Government plans, large landowners will be required to consult on, produce and comply with land management plans, and constraints, such as lotting, will be placed on the sale of land.

Given that there might soon be a requirement for large landowners to pay a carbon emissions land tax, will the Scottish Government give consideration, with some potential exemptions and caveats, to aligning the qualifying threshold for all three measures to ownership of land of more than 1,000 hectares? Such an approach might benefit communities, nature restoration and net zero goals.

Mairi Gougeon

I am grateful for the committee’s scrutiny of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill. Ultimately, we set out the different thresholds to ensure that the measures are justified in relation to the policy aims, and do not have a disproportionate impact on smaller landholdings. I welcome the committee’s consideration of those issues.

The Scottish Government is committed to exploring options for a carbon land tax to support emissions reductions, but any potential new measures in relation to that would have to be rigorously assessed and based on strong evidence to ensure that they meet the objectives of introducing such a policy.

In the development of that work, we would collaborate with stakeholders, including landowners, to consider all available options, including any relevant thresholds and what they might look like.