At the SNP's 2015 conference in Aberdeen, delegates sent ministers homeward, well to Edinburgh at least, to think again about land reform. The Scottish Government's bill wasn't radical enough.
Ministers had previously sounded a retreat over moves to establish the identity of landowners who hide behind companies registered in overseas tax havens. Their lawyers advised that forcing owners to reveal their identities, could be argued to breach their human rights to property and privacy.
But eventually it was realised the Scottish Government could hardly lose. Being taken to court by a shelf-company based in a British Virgin Islands PO Box, pleading its owners human rights to remain anonymous despite owning great swathes of the Highlands, would be a sort of victory in itself.
So before the legislation ended its parliamentary journey, it had been beefed up at committee stage, not least on this crucial issue of transparency.
Since then the members of the Scottish Land Commission, charged with maintaining the momentum of land reform, have been named. Few advocates of reform having much cause to complain about Roseanna Cunningham's selection.
Land reform is back on the agenda when SNP delegates return to Aberdeen in nine days' time. A motion from the Tweeddale and Arran branches congratulates the Scottish Government on the establishment of the commission
It welcomes publication of the Statement for Land Rights and Responsibilities "to set new goals for Scotland's land reform agenda," although some see this as too timid.
But the last section exhorts ministers to "use every possible policy means available to engage communities with the land reform agenda..." It adds: "This must include exploring all fiscal options to ensure that our land is fairly and sustainably valued and managed...."
Could these words open the door to a reconsideration of land value tax (LVT)? Between threatened business rates revolts north and south of the border, continued controversy over the council tax and the utter despair of those who can't afford a deposit to get on the property ladder, it is clear we need to do things differently. Making an annual charge on an area of land, rather than any buildings or developments on it, could help.
With owners of derelict/neglected land, paying the same as those who invest in theirs, should deter land speculators or supermarkets from 'land banking'. It could help end the cycle of boom and bust in property, and help the young get on the bottom rung. It helps prevent urban sprawl. But perhaps the most fundamental point is that it could be fairer, as Churchill and Lloyd George argued in 1909.
In 2014 the Land Reform Review Group said “ there is a mounting case for serious consideration to be given to LVT in Scotland."The following year representations were made to the Scottish Government’s Commission on Local Tax Reform, not least by Iain McLean, Professor of Politics at Oxford University. But the commission said more analysis was needed to understand the impact of LVT. Is it not time such analysis is resumed?
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