THE body which represents Scotland's crofters says its members on local grazings committees will not report their neighbours if they breach regulations.

The Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) has submitted its response to the Crofting Commission's consultation on the 'Duty to Report' with a resounding "no", to the idea of monitoring the activities of other local crofters and reporting on the likes of absenteeism.

SCF members have said that they do not think it is within the remit of grazings committees to comment what goes on around each croft on what is called the in-bye, as well as on the common grazings which are shared by local crofts.

Patrick Krause, Chief Executive of the SCF, said: "The grazings committees' responsibility is the management of common grazings. They are voluntary bodies and the Crofting Commission do not have the resources to provide training or support for them. It is difficult enough to get grazings committees together without extra duties being laden upon them, and it is feared that this duty could further discourage crofters from forming grazings committees."

He said the commission had its own assessors and within crofting law could ask crofters to fill in an annual return declaring their residency status and use of the croft.