Urgent action needed to resolve Salvesen type tenancy cases, MSPs say

Urgent action by the Scottish Government is needed to resolve agricultural tenancy issues still outstanding in the wake of the Salvesen v Riddell decision by the UK Supreme Court, a Holyrood committee has stated.

The Rural Affairs, Climate Change & Environment Committee has written to the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food & Environment, Richard Lochhead MSP to tackle the lack of progress and impact on tenants and landlords affected by the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 Remedial Order 2014 which resulted from the ruling.

The court ruled that a provision of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 was beyond the powers of the Scottish Parliament in so far as it discriminated against certain landlords by preventing them from bringing a farming tenancy to an end before the Act came into effect. The Scottish Government subsequently made an order providing what should happen to tenancies affected by the ruling, but this did not deal with all the potential situations arising (click here for an article on the order).

After hearing further evidence on behalf of the affected tenants, and from the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association, the committee wrote to the minister to say that "the lack of progress and impact of this on those affected tenants and landlords is of great concern to the committee". 

It continued: "We welcome your commitment, as a matter of urgency, to proactively engage in a dialogue with those affected tenants and landlords to achieve a resolution and equitable settlement. In order to be assured that the process moves swiftly and progress is effectively understood and communicated the committee would welcome progress updates from you as often as required and, as a minimum, on a fortnightly basis, from 7 October."

Convener Rob Gibson MSP commented: “The Scottish Government committed at the outset to playing a central role in trying to minimise any negative impact on tenant and landlords, and to fully fund and participate in the mediation process. But this did not appear to happen.

“The committee was deeply concerned to hear of the lack of progress by the Scottish Government. For more than 18 months landlords and tenants have endured extreme stress and uncertainty. As a matter of urgency the committee now wants to see real progress from the Scottish Government towards resolution and fair settlement.”