Reflections on the Royal Highland Show

Reuben Duffy, Policy Executive and Secretary to our Rural Affairs Committee reflects on his recent visit to Edinburgh's Royal Highland Show.

On what felt like the hottest day of the year, I swapped the office for the field and went to Ingliston to the Royal Highland Show (RHS) to talk with  our members and stakeholders in the rural sector.

Speaking to stakeholders across the rural sector, it is clear that there is a deep frustration at the current state of the sector alongside an enthusiastic desire to continue to innovate and contribute to Scotland’s national missions, such as achieving net zero.

Two issues in particular stood out in terms of their impact on legal practitioners in rural Scotland.

First and foremost, it is clear that it has been a busy few years for the rural sector. The Scottish Government’s legislative programme over the course of this Parliament has led to a lot of legislative change -since 2021, MSPs have voted through five Bills into law that directly impact the rural sector, with a further three currently before MSPs for consideration.

Given the amount of new legislation, this has also been a very busy period for many legal practitioners in rural areas, a situation reflected in several conversations at the RHS. The already busy legislative environment comes at the same time political parties finalise their manifesto promises for the 2026 election, with a new Government’s first legislative programme thereafter.

Secondly, the theme of rural depopulation and its impact on the legal sector was evident throughout the event. Legal high street practices or SMEs in rural Scotland are facing increased difficulties in both hiring and retaining staff, owing to a combination of a housing shortage, lack of access to public services and poor transport links. Nationwide issues such as the cost-of-living and the energy crisis are also magnifying these challenges.

The result is that clients are struggling to find the niche expertise necessary for areas of law, such as crofting, owing to an absence of highly specialised practitioners in rural specific areas of law.

There is also a wider impact felt by the loss of a legal SME in the community, as our  President Patricia Thom highlighted in a her blog looking at smaller firms. Smaller legal firms in rural areas are often deeply embedded in their local communities. Solicitors may double up as chairs of the local rotary club or volunteers at the village fair. I know from my own experience in a small semi-rural town in Lanarkshire that the local solicitor firm would sponsor a float on the local gala day. It would be very difficult to fill the hole left behind by the departure of these businesses from small, tight-knit communities.

With the coming 2026 election, we will soon have a new government elected (or re-elected) in Scotland with a new legislative programme to put before MSPs for consideration and debate.

From the Law Society’s perspective, it is critical that whichever party prevails in May, it approaches future legislative and policy reforms in the rural sector with care, being mindful of how these interplay with previous reforms and existing practise whilst at the same time assisting legal SMEs not just survive but thrive in rural Scotland.