Agriculture (Scotland) Act 1948

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70 Provisions as to the appointment of additional members of the LandCourt.

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72 Proceedings of the Land Court.

The provisions of the Small Landholders (Scotland) Acts, 1886 to 1931, with regard to the Land Court shall, with any necessary modifications, apply for the purpose of the determination of any matter which they are required by or under this Act to determine, in like manner as those provisions apply for the purpose of the determination by the Land Court of matters referred to them under those Acts.

73 Establishment and functions of Agricultural Advisory Committees.

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75 Schemes for provision of agricultural goods and services.

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76 Provision of machinery for agricultural drainage works.

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80 Provisions as to representations.

(1) Any enactment in this Act providing, in relation to the taking of any action by the Secretary of State, for his taking the action after affording to a person an opportunity of making representations to the Secretary of State, whether in writing or on being heard by a person appointed by the Secretary of State, shall be construed as a provision that the Secretary of State shall comply with the following requirements. (2) The Secretary of State shall give notice to the said person specifying the action proposed to be taken and informing him of the effect of the three following subsections. (3) If within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner the said person makes representations to the Secretary of State in writing, the Secretary of State shall not take the action in question until he has considered the representations. (4) If, whether or not, representations are made to the Secretary of State in writing, the said person within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner requires that an opportunity be afforded to him of being heard by a person appointed by the Secretary of State for the purpose, such an opportunity shall be afforded to him and, on the same occasion, to any other person to whom under the enactment referred to in subsection (1) of this section the Secretary of State is required to afford such an opportunity, and the Secretary of State shall not take the action in question until he has considered any representations made at the hearing. (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

81 Expenses and receipts.

(1) All expenses incurred by the Secretary of State under this Act shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament. (2) All sums received by the Secretary of State under this Act, including sums received on his behalf by any person or body of persons exercising functions on behalf of the Secretary of State, shall be paid into the Exchequer.

82 Provisions as to entry and inspection.

(1) Any person authorised by the Secretary of State in that behalf shall have power at all reasonable times to enter on and inspect any land for the purpose of determining whether, and if so in what manner, any of the powers conferred on the Secretary of State by this Act are to be exercised in relation to the land, or whether, and if so in what manner, any direction given under any such power has been complied with. (2) Any person authorised by the Secretary of State who proposes to exercise any power of entry or inspection conferred by this Act shall if so required produce some duly authenticated document showing his authority to exercise the power. (3) Admission to any land shall not be demanded as of right in the exercise of any such power as aforesaid— (a) if the power is being exercised for determining whether the land is to be acquired under Part IV or Part V of this Act, or (b) if the land is being used for residential purposes, unless twenty-four hours notice of the intended entry has been given to the occupier of the land. (4) Save as provided by the last foregoing subsection, admission to any land shall not be demanded as of right in the exercise of any such power as aforesaid . . . unless notice has been given to the occupier of the land that it is proposed to enter during a period, specified in the notice, not exceeding fourteen days and beginning at least twenty-four hours after the giving of the notice, and the entry is made on the land during the period specified in the notice: Provided that where the power of entry is being exercised for the purpose of taking measures to secure compliance with a direction or requirement under the provisions . . . of section thirty-five or of Part III of this Act, and notice is given in accordance with this subsection on the first occasion on which the power is exercised, no further notice shall be required before entering on the land on a subsequent occasion in connection with the taking of the measures. (5) Where notice is served in a case falling within the proviso to the last foregoing subsection, and the person to whom the direction therein referred to was given, or on whom the requirement therein referred to was imposed, is not the occupier of the land, a like notice shall be served on that person. (6) Any notice served in pursuance of the last foregoing subsection or the proviso therein referred to may be served in like manner as the notice giving the said direction or imposing the said requirement. (7) Any person who, in any case for which no penalty is provided by the foregoing provisions of this Act obstructs the exercise of any such power as aforesaid or of any other power conferred by subsection (2) of section forty-one of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale in the case of a first offence or level 2 on the standard scale in the case of a second or any subsequent offence.

83 Service of notices.

(1) Any notice or other document required or authorised by or under this Act to be given to or served on any person shall be duly given or served if it is delivered to him, or left at his proper address, or sent to him by post in a registered letter. (2) Any such document required or authorised to be given to or served on an incorporated company or body shall be duly given or served if given to or served on the secretary or clerk of the company or body. (3) For the purposes of this section and of section twenty-six of the Interpretation Act, 1889, the proper address of any person to or on whom any such document as aforesaid is to be given or served shall, in the case of the secretary or clerk of any incorporated company or body, be that of the registered or principal office of the company or body, and in any other case be the last known address of the person in question. (4) Where any document is to be given to or served on a person as being the person having any interest in land, and it is not practicable after reasonable inquiry to ascertain his name or address, the document may be given or served by addressing it to him by the description of the person having that interest in the land (naming it), and delivering the document to some responsible person on the land or by affixing it, or a copy of it, to some conspicuous object on the land.

84 Nomination of arbiter in cases to which the Secretary of State is a party.

Where the Secretary of State is a party to any question or difference which under . . . this Act, is to be determined by arbitration under the Act of 1923 or by an arbiter appointed in accordance with the provisions of that Act, the arbiter shall in lieu of being nominated by the Secretary of State be nominated by the Land Court, and the remuneration of the arbiter so nominated shall be such amount as may be fixed by the Land Court.

85 Regulations and orders.

(1) Any regulations made by the Secretary of State under this Act shall be embodied in a statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of resolution of either House of Parliament. (2) In this Act the expression “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State. (3) Any power conferred by this Act to make an order shall include a power, exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like conditions, to revoke or vary the order. Provided that in relation to the power of the Secretary of State to make orders under subsection (4) of section fifty of this Act this subsection shall have effect subject to the provisions of subsection (5) of the said section fifty.

86 Interpretation.

(1) In this Act the expression “agricultural land” means land used for agriculture which is so used for the purposes of a trade or business, or which is designated by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this subsection, and includes any land so designated as land which in the opinion of the Secretary of State ought to be brought into use for agriculture: Provided that no designation under this subsection shall extend— (a) to land used as pleasure grounds, private gardens or allotments , or (b) to land kept or preserved mainly or exclusively for the purposes of sport or recreation, except where the Secretary of State is satisfied that its use for agriculture would not be inconsistent with its use for the said purposes and it is so stated in the designation. (2) In this Act the expression “agricultural unit” means land which is occupied as a unit for agricultural purposes, including— (a) any dwelling-house or other building occupied by the same person for the purpose of farming the land, and (b) any other land falling within the definition in this Act of the expression “agricultural land” which is in the occupation of the same person, being land as to which the Secretary of State is satisfied that having regard to the character and situation thereof and other relevant circumstances it ought in the interests of full and efficient production to be farmed in conjunction with the agricultural unit, and directs accordingly: Provided that the Secretary of State shall not give a direction under this subsection as respects any land if it is for the time being in use for any purpose which appears to him to be substantial having regard to the use to which it might be put for agriculture. (3) In this Act the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say:— “the Act of 1923” means the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1923; “agriculture” includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming and livestock breeding and keeping, the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds, and the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes, and “agricultural” shall be construed accordingly; “allotment” has the meaning given by section 107 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015; “fixed equipment” includes any building or structure affixed to land and any works on, in, over or under land, and also includes anything grown on land for a purpose other than use after severance from the land, consumption of the thing grown or of produce thereof, or amenity, and, without prejudice to the foregoing generality, includes the following things, that is to say— (a) all permanent buildings, including farm houses and farm cottages, necessary for the proper conduct of the holding; (b) all permanent fences, including hedges, stone dykes, gate posts and gates; (c) all ditches, open drains and tile drains, conduits and culverts, ponds, sluices, flood banks and main water courses; (d) stells, fanks, folds, dippers, pens and bughts necessary for the proper conduct of the holding; (e) farm access or service roads, bridges and fords; (f) water and sewerage systems; (g) electrical installations including generating plant, fixed motors, wiring systems, switches and plug sockets; (h) shelter belts; and references to fixed equipment on land shall be construed accordingly. “functions” includes powers and duties; “livestock” includes any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or fur, or for the purpose of its use in the farming of land; “pasture” includes meadow; “prescribed” has the meaning assigned to it by the last foregoing section; “produce” includes anything (whether live or dead) produced in the course of agriculture; “relevant circumstances,” in relation to an owner or an occupier, includes all circumstances affecting management or farming, other than the personal circumstances of the owner or the occupier. (4) References in this Act to any enactment shall be construed, except where the context otherwise requires, as references to that enactment as amended by or under any other enactment, including this Act. (5) References in this Act to the farming of land include references to the carrying on in relation to the land of any agricultural activity; and in relation to any agricultural activity the person having the right to carry it on shall be deemed to be the occupier of the land. (6) References in this Act to the use of land for agriculture include, in relation to land forming part of an agricultural unit, references to any use of the land in connection with the farming of the unit.

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88 †Short title, commencement and extent.

(1) This Act may be cited as the Agriculture (Scotland) Act, 1948. (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3) This Act shall extend to Scotland only.

FIRST SCHEDULE

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SECOND SCHEDULE

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FOURTH SCHEDULE. Matters for which provision is to made in written leases.

Section 14. 1 The names of the parties. 2 Particulars of the holding with sufficient description, by reference to a map or plan, of the fields and other parcels of land comprised therin to identify the extent of the holding. 3 The term or terms for which the holding or different parts thereof is or are agreed to be let. 4 The rent and dates on which it is payable. 5 An undertakiing by the landlord in the event of damage by fire to any building comprised in the holding to reinstate or replace the building if its reinstatement or replacement is required for the fulfilment of his reponsibilities to manage the holding in accordance with the rules of good estate management, and (where the interest of the landlord is held for the purposes of a government department or person representing His Majesty under section forty-five of the Act of 1923 is deemded to be the landlord, or where the landlord has made provision approved by the Secretary of State for defraying the cost of any such reinstatement or replacement as aforesaid) an undertaking by the landlord to insure to their full value all such buildings against damage by fire. 6 An undertaking by the tenant, in the event of the destruction by fire of harvested crops grown on the holding the full equivalent manurial value of the crops destroyed, in so far as the return thereof is required for the fulfilment of his responsibilities to farm in accordance with the rules of good husbandry, and (except where the interest of the tenant is held for the purposes of a government department or where the tenant has made provision approved by the Secretary of State in lieu of such insurance) an undertaking by the tenant to insure to their full value all dead stock on the holding and all such harvested crops as aforesaid against damage by fire.

FIFTH SCHEDULE Rules of Good Estate Management

Section 26 1 For the purposes of this Act, the owner of agricultural land shall be deemed to fulfil his responsibilities to manage it in accordance with the rules of good estate management in so far as his management of the land and (so far as it affects the management of that land) of other land managed by him is such as to be reasonably adequate, having regard to the character and situation of the land and other relevant circumstances, to enable an occupier of the land reasonably skilled in husbandry to maintain efficient production as respects both the kind of produce and the quality and quantity thereof. 2 In determining whether the management of land is such as aforesaid regard shall be had, but without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of the last foregoing paragraph, to the extent to which the owner is making regular muirburn in the interests of sheep stock, exercising systematic control of vermin on land not in the control of a tenant, and undertaking the eradication of bracken, whins and broom so far as is reasonably practicable, and to the extent to which the owner is fulfilling his responsibilities in relation to the provision, improvement, replacement and renewal of the fixed equipment on the land in so far as is necessary to enable an occupier reasonably skilled in husbandry to maintain efficient production as aforesaid.

SIXTH SCHEDULE Rules of Good Husbandry

Section 26 1 For the purposes of this Act, the occupier of an agricultural unit shall be deemed to fulfil his responsibilities to farm it in accordance with the rules of good husbandry in so far as the extent to which and the manner in which the unit is being farmed (as respects both the kind of operations carried out and the way in which they are carried out) are such that, having regard to the character and situation of the unit, the standard of management thereof by the owner and other relevant circumstances, the occupier is maintaining a reasonable standard of efficient production, as respects both the kind of produce and the quality and quantity thereof, while keeping the unit in a condition to enable such a standard to be maintained in the future. 2 In determining whether the manner in which a unit is being farmed is such as aforesaid regard shall be had, but without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of the last foregoing paragraph, to the following:— (a) the maintenance of permanent grassland (whether meadow or pasture) properly mown or grazed and in a good state of cultivation and fertility; (b) the handling or cropping of the arable land, including the treatment of temporary grass, so as to maintain it clean and in a good state of cultivation and fertility; (c) where the system of farming practised requires the keeping of livestock, the proper stocking of the holding; (d) the maintenance of an efficient standard of management of livestock; (e) as regards hill sheep farming in particular:— (i) the maintenance of a sheep stock of a suitable breed and type in regular ages (so far as is reasonably possible) and the keeping and management thereof in accordance with the recognised practices of hill sheep farming; (ii) the use of lug, horn or other stock marks for the purpose of determining ownership of stock sheep; (iii) The regular selection and retention of the best female stock for breeding; (iv) the regular selection and use of tups possessing the qualities most suitable and desirable for the flock; (v) the extent to which regular muirburn is made; (f) the extent to which the necessary steps are being taken— (i) to secure and maintain the freedom of crops and livestock from disease and from infestation by insects and other pests; (ii) to exercise systematic control of vermin and of bracken, whins, broom and injurious weeds; (iii) to protect and preserve crops harvested or in course of being harvested; (iv) to carry out necessary work of maintenance and repair of the fixed and other equipment.

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NINTH SCHEDULE

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TENTH SCHEDULE

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