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Bill Barron might be able to estimate that.

You are getting technical now. I will pass that on to Michael.

Since 2018, a number of things have got in the way of delivering a bigger crofting bill. I am not going to go over the history, but I have already said that we absolutely understand that there will have to be a bigger crofting bill further down the road. However, we are focusing on making sure that we get this one right and that we get people on board with it, once the bill is passed by Parliament, as I hope that it will be. That will give us the bedrock to allow us to look at what is next. We absolutely know that this is not the final point—it is a journey, and I am committed to making sure that we continue on that journey, even after the bill is passed.

The commission also stated that it would consider a report of breach of duty from someone who is not on the list mentioned in the legislation but it would not then be required to do anything about it. Anyone could allege that there was a problem with a croft somewhere, but the commission has to act on reports only from those mentioned in the legislation. That is probably what Andrew Thin was trying to get at when he was giving that evidence.

Yes. You should bear in mind that the Scottish Government is also a landlord. There is absolutely no desire to water down or dilute landlords’ ability to be represented. It is just that, in this circumstance, there may be other, more effective uses of that place on the commission.

The bill was always deemed to be a technical bill to fix some of the anomalies, such as the one on assignation to family members.

We have done a number of things that should allow us to get the outcome that you mention. The enforcement of duties is a really important one, because there will be circumstances where people—who have been wilfully inactive and not dealing with their crofts—will simply not come back. As I said earlier, a croft a week is being re-let by the Crofting Commission. That is creating a sense in the crofting communities that things are now beginning to work and function in the way that they are supposed to. That is largely down to the excellent efforts of Gary Campbell and Andrew Thin. I think that the simplification of the assignation of family crofts and the provisions on assignation to two people have gone some way towards achieving the desired outcome.

Is there more to be done? Absolutely. There will always be more to be done, but the bill as it stands will meet the objectives that people set out to achieve long before I was a minister, when they started to talk about the subject. The bill will meet those objectives and it also seeks to add one or two things that will allow us to try to restabilise the crofting community spirit.

We have taken on board the comments from stakeholders, including Mr Inkster. However, 93 per cent of respondents to the consultation supported that provision. Officials are already in discussion with the Registers of Scotland and the Crofting Commission to ensure that the legislation cannot bring about the scenario that was outlined by a solicitor in their response to the call for views.

The bill provides ministers with the flexibility to adjust the jurisdiction of the Land Court. It is clear that the new, expanded Land Court will work primarily within the context of Scottish farming and crofting. It does not have universal jurisdiction to deal with all matters relating to land. Complicated environmental cases are likely to cover a number of issues, such as cultural, social and economic. As a result, such cases, among other issues, should continue to be considered in the current courts and tribunals system.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that there is effective access to justice on environmental matters in Scotland. Since the United Kingdom left the European Union, steps have been taken to strengthen access to justice in environmental matters. Environmental Standards Scotland is an independent body that has been set up to ensure that environmental laws and standards are adhered to in Scotland. ESS replaces the European Union’s scrutiny and enforcement role.

At the time of the Scottish Government’s review of environmental governance, ESS was a new body. The Scottish Government acknowledged that time was required to allow the new arrangements to be implemented in full. In its draft strategy for 2026-31, ESS has stated that it

“will ensure that the environmental governance system works effectively”.

I hope that that gives the committee some confidence that work is going on.

At this stage, the bill is primarily engaged with farming and crofting. That is its function at the moment.

That is exactly what we are saying. One of the things that came up, particularly in the Western Isles, was the need to make the assignation process as simple as we possibly could, particularly for family members. However, that cannot result in a particular family hoovering up the entire area. This is just about the commission being able to say, “Hold on—you have three crofts. Let’s have a look at that and see whether we are in the right place,” but that does not mean that the commission would then say, “No—you can’t go any further.”