The question of whether England needs a “land commission” like the Scottish Land Commission is one that comes up relatively often in our work. This 2021 project, funded by SHED, and in collaboration with the New Economics Foundation, explored this question, but from the perspective of those in grassroots campaigns.
We carried out an evidence review, and then worked together with three co-researchers who helped scope and review the work, and who led on a series of interviews with people in grassroots campaigns and movements across the country. The findings from this were then shared more widely in a broader “sounding board” meeting.
Essentially, we concluded that there’s a need for deeper understanding of the land “system” and how it all works, and that understanding probably needs to be in place before there is likely to be broad support for all-encompassing policy solutions like a Land Commission.
One of the key outputs from the first phase of the work was this interactive graphic showing some of our key reflections. The next phase of this work will involve producing a set of “explainers” of key aspects of the land system, including podcasts in collaboration with Untelevised. Watch this space!