§ Mr. Ernie RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress has been made by the Scottish Law Commission in its review of the feudal system. [12474]
§ Mr. DewarThe Government gave a manifesto commitment to initiate a study into land ownership and management in Scotland, including the options for removing the rights of feudal superiors.
The feudal system is anachronistic and makes conveyancing more expensive than it need be. It also allows unscrupulous superiors to charge excessive amounts for granting consent to alterations or changes of use of property.
I am therefore delighted that the Scottish Law Commission will be able to submit a report on the abolition of feudal tenure, with draft legislation in 1998—one year earlier than expected. At the same time, the commission will issue a discussion paper on related questions of real burdens. It will report on those questions by the end of 1999.
The effect of the two reports will be to sweep away superiorities, replace the feudal system with a system based on absolute ownership, and reform the law real burdens.
The Government are committed to the introduction of legislation to abolish the feudal system as soon as we can after the commission reports. It may be necessary to carry out further consultations following publication of the reports, but I very much hope that the legislation will be one of the first reforms to be enacted by the Scottish Parliament. It would be most fitting if Scotland entered the new millennium not only with a new Parliament but with a completely modernised system of land tenure.