and promotes the interests of crofting in Scotland
to secure the future of crofting.
Crofting Census
19/12/2018
The 2018 Crofting Census will be issued on 7 January 2019. The Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 stipulates all crofting tenants and owner-occupier crofters have a legal obligation to complete and return their census form to the Commission.
Rod Mackenzie, Convener, said, “ last year saw a 14% decrease in the number of forms returned whereas in previous years the percentage was increasing. There may be various reasons why there was a dip in returns but even if folk don’t have any new information to put into the census form it must still be signed and returned to the Commission.”
Crofters have until 31 March 2019 to return their forms. If people don’t engage with us that could suggest they are not complying with their duties and the Commission may then start to take steps to investigate if there is a non-compliance which can result in either their tenancy being terminated, or for owner-occupier crofters, letting the tenancy of the croft.
In the last year, the Commission has contacted around 300 crofters who have not been complying with their duties, many of whom have now resolved their situation in one of the several ways that can be agreed with the Commission.
