The Scottish Land Commission is a non-departmental public body established on 1 April 2017.
The Commission has five Land Commissioners and one Tenant Farming Commissioner, all appointed by Scottish Ministers.
The organisation is based in Inverness and has a team of 17 staff led by Chief Executive Hamish Trench.
Michael Russell, served as a Scottish Government Minister and Member of the Scottish Parliament at various times between 1999 and 2021. He has had a long term involvement with land reform having been Environment Minister from 2007-2009, a member of the Scottish Parliament Committee which scrutinised the Land Reform Bill in 2015 and an MSP for the South of Scotland Region for two terms before being elected in 2011 to serve the constituency of Argyll and Bute where he has lived since 1992. He retired from representational politics in 2021, but remained SNP President until 2023. He is the author of seven books and has worked as a columnist and commentator as well as a television producer and director. He was the founder of the Celtic Media Festival, now in its 45th year, was part time Professor in Scottish Culture and Governance at the University of Glasgow (where he is now an Honorary Professor in the College of Arts & Humanities) and is the trustee of a number of charities.
Bob is a retired public servant with extensive experience in public policy, in particular in land management and forestry, Bob was the Scottish Government Director for Environment and Forestry between 2012 and 2015, and before that served as the Director of Forestry Commission Scotland and in many other roles in the Forestry Commission. He was a partner in a 650-acre hill farm for 15 years. He was until recently a Board Member of Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
Sally is an Agricultural Consultant (with a PhD in mathematical ecology); she recently worked, for eight years, within the Community Land Sector as Development Manager with Carloway Estate Trust (Urras Oighreachd Chàrlabhaigh). An active crofter, she contributes to a number of activities which benefit the community. She currently works, in a Business Development role, with Stornoway Port.
Lorne has had an interest, and involvement, in land reform for many years. He was a founding director and, latterly, was the Chairman of Community Land Scotland, and has been a director of the community land buyout groups in Eriskay, South Uist & Benbecula, and the Isle of Gigha. He was Highlands & Islands Enterprise’s first Director of Strengthening Communities, and prior to that was Chief Executive of Skye & Lochalsh Enterprise. He is a chartered accountant, and director of a retail and distribution business in the Isle of Skye.
Dr. Craig Mackenzie, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh Business School, brings over 20 years of experience in investment management, combining financial and sustainable investment roles. In his most recent position, he led strategic asset allocation and developed climate solutions and natural capital investment funds. Over his career, Craig has shaped good practice standards on corporate environmental and social responsibility, serving on advisory boards for the Global Reporting Initiative, the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and FTSE. As an academic, he founded the Centre for Business and Climate Change (now BCCaS) at the University of Edinburgh and helped launch carbon management and climate finance MSc programs. He has a PhD in behavioural finance and has published on sustainability and corporate responsibility.
Professor Deb Roberts is Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Science at the James Hutton Institute. Deb trained as an agricultural economist and, prior to moving into her current position, her research focussed on understanding how agricultural and environmental policies affect economic development and social wellbeing in rural areas. She holds an Honorary Chair in Real Estate at the University of Aberdeen.
Hamish is Chief Executive and accountable officer of the Scottish Land Commission. He is a former chartered surveyor with experience of land policy, management and research in the public and private sectors. His previous roles include director posts at the Cairngorms National Park Authority and Deer Commission for Scotland, and working for a national firm of property consultants. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA).
Emma is responsible for the Land Commission’s work shaping change on the ground to ensure more people benefit from Scotland’s land by supporting the practical implementation of the Scottish Government’s Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement (LRRS).
Gemma’s work focusses on helping people to own, use and manage land responsibly in line with the principles of the Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement. She manages a programme of engagement, guidance, casework, and advice that supports key stakeholders across all sectors to strengthen their adoption of good practice principles in their strategy and delivery. She is particularly interested in community engagement, community ownership, Community Wealth Building, and Common Good. Gemma is a member of the KLTR’s Ownerless Property Transfer Scheme Panel and of Forestry and Land Scotland’s Community Asset Transfer Scheme Panel.
As a Good Practice Adviser, Karen works to help embed principles of fairness, transparency, balance and opportunity into land ownership, management and use in Scotland. This includes offering support in the form of training, advice and guidance, and working with landowners and managers in the private, public and community sectors, to increase understanding and alignment with the principles of the Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement. Karen has a background in ecology, agriculture, forest issues and climate change.
David’s main areas of work are on land, housing and place. His remit at the Scottish Land Commission includes work on land assembly, placemaking, and housing land markets.
David joined the Commission from the SFHA, where he led on new build affordable housing, planning reform, energy efficiency and regeneration. Prior to that he worked for housing associations and for Edinburgh City Council on housing and regeneration.
He is a board member of Rural Housing Scotland and was previously on the board of PAS, the planning and place charity, and a community based housing association in Greenock.
James leads the Commission’s work around land and human rights, governance, and ownership. This touches upon a range of land reform issues from developing policy and legislative proposals to reform Scotland’s land market, to articulating the nature of carbon rights and what ownership means, to modernising the Common Good property regime, to improving access to land for new entrants to agriculture. James hails from a family farming background and brings broad experience from the private, public, and third sectors to his role.
Miranda is responsible for the Commission’s work on land governance. This work looks at innovative approaches for the integration of diverse interests in decisions on land, through the development of guidance, the facilitation of conversations and relations, and research. Miranda’s work also specifically aims to increase opportunities for access to land for small-scale land ownership, management, and use. This focus area builds upon Miranda’s wide experience working directly with small-scale producers in Scotland, including in the crofting communities. Miranda holds a PhD in law, and she has worked as a legal consultant for international, EU and national public organisations on topics related to land, agriculture, biodiversity, and human rights.
Hanna leads on the Commission’s delivery of high quality evidence and analysis by designing, conducting, and commissioning research on land reform. She previously worked as a senior researcher on land and housing for the New Economics Foundation think tank, and her academic background is in political economy and quantitative research methods.
Scarlett joined the Commission in 2024 as Communications and Engagement Manager and has a background in marketing. Scarlett is responsible for ensuring the work of the Commission is accessible to a broad audience across all the Commission’s platforms including social media, email, and our website.
Caron is responsible for managing and supporting the Commission’s business functions. Providing support and guidance to the organisation in HR, employee wellbeing, Data Protection, FOI, information management and board secretariat.
Claire is responsible for managing and supporting the Commission’s finance and business functions to support effective operational delivery and compliance. This includes co-ordination of internal and external audit, IT and Cyber security, and ensuring the commission has appropriate corporate governance policies in place to meet its duties as an NDPB.
Megan is responsible for supporting the Commission's finance functions, in the form of the budgetary processes and financial reporting. She has previously worked within the accounting and construction sectors, gaining knowledge and experience.
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