THINGS ARE still very far from right at Scotland's Crofting Commission, which has just come out on the wrong end of yet another investigation into its internal workings.

Following on from the Auditor General for Scotland's October 2021 report, which itself was a revisiting of issues first raised in a 2016 review of the Crofting Commission's performance, Holyrood's Public Audit Committee has weighed in to express its extreme concern at the 'weaknesses in leadership and governance' on display in the body.

As the previous reports have suggested, the root problem is a 'lack of clarity' about the roles and responsibilities of the people that staff the Crofting Commission, a non-departmental public body, with a remit to regulate crofting and promote the interests of croft communities, which operates independently of the government, but for which Scottish ministers are ultimately responsible.

The October report highlighted the schism between its chief executive, the convener and the board, and a general 'blurring' of the lines over who should be doing what. The cross-party Holyrood committee that has now scrutinised the subject has concurred that the Crofting Commission has not been meeting the standards expected of a public body – not least one with an annual expenditure of £3.1 million, of which £2.4 million represented the payroll for some 50 staff.

PAC convener Richard Leonard MSP said: “It is incredibly disappointing that neither the Scottish Government nor the Crofting Commission took sufficient action to avoid the recurrence of serious concerns first highlighted as far back as 2016.

“The Committee remains gravely concerned that these issues will continue to recur unless, this time, lessons are learned and learned fast. We welcome the fact that there is now an action plan in place to turn things around but what we are also demanding is a culture change.

"When the new board is elected next month, it must forge strong relationships with the Scottish government and steer clear of the day-to-day running of the commission – instead focusing on being transparent, open and accountable to the crofting communities they serve."

Speaking from the Scottish Crofting Federation, chief executive Patrick Krause agreed that the PAC report's conclusions had been 'quite damning', and there was something quite clearly wrong when the body charged with the care of Scotland's crofting communities had for so long been preoccupied with its own internal failings rather than dealing with crofters' problems. However, Mr Krause voiced optimism that the imminent board elections in March would allow something of a fresh start, with the newly elected members being given much more training from the outset.

In response to the earlier Audit Scotland report, Rural Affairs cabinet secretary Mairi Gougeon said that the government was working with the Commission on the problems highlighted: "We will, of course, consider carefully and address any matters relating to Scottish government and its sponsorship of the Crofting Commission.

"The Commission will publish an improvement plan shortly and we will continue to work closely with it on implementation of the plan and in delivering core activities."