The Crofters Commission should be scrapped and replaced by locally elected crofting boards, according to a radical report published yesterday.
An inquiry led by Professor Mark Shucksmith recommended abolishing the commission, which oversees crofting legislation and the development of crofting, as part of a series of ideas to reform the industry.
The report said locally elected boards in place of the commission would introduce more accountability into regulation of the system of land tenure.
It also suggested that all crofting houses should be occupied to counter the problem of absentee tenants.
The previous Scottish Executive set up the committee of inquiry on crofting to develop a vision for the future of the sector.
As the committee revealed its findings at Stornoway yesterday, Environment Minister Mike Russell described it as “the most significant report on crofting for the past half century”.
The inquiry recommends that a body, ideally within Highlands and Islands Enterprise, should be responsible for the development of crofting.
It suggests that future funding should be aimed at helping new entrants into crofting and also states that existing legislation needs to be simpler and clarified.
But the committee stressed that none of the rights listed in the 1886 Crofters Act, such as security of tenure, succession and fair rents, should be changed.
However, it recommended that those rights should be enjoyed only by those living on or near their croft and actively working the land.
Prof Shucksmith said: “A key theme of our recommendations is empowering crofting communities, through the right mix of support, to take ownership and responsibility for their future.”
The government will consider the report’s recommendations and report back. It will also be debated at Holyrood.
Scottish Crofting Foundation chief executive Patrick Krause said: “This report is a vindication of SCF’s call for an inquiry and is a faithful reflection of the views of the many crofters who turned out to the public meetings held up and down the country.
Ross, Skye and Inverness West Liberal Democrat MSP John Farquhar Munro said there were a lot of positive ideas in the report but he was not convinced it was right to split the development role of the Crofters Commission from the regulation role.
“If the commission’s regulatory role is to be taken over by local crofting boards, then the development role should be handed to these boards too,” he said.
“I fear that HIE will not be able to give crofting development the priority it deserves.”
Western Isles SNP MSP Alasdair Allan said abolition of the Crofters Commission and its replacement by bodies elected by crofters themselves deserved serious consideration by the Scottish Parliament.
Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Peter Peacock said his party would be investigating the “more radical” recommendations to assess their implications for crofting communities.