About the Inquiry
Background to the Inquiry
Section 39 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 requires Scottish Ministers to make regulations requiring information to be provided about persons holding a controlled interest in land and for that information to be recorded in a public register, kept by the Keeper of Registers of Scotland. This provision arose from concerns that the current system of land ownership was not sufficiently transparent and that even if the owner or tenant of a piece of land were known, that persons holding a controlled interest in that land may be more difficult to trace.
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 make provision for the creation of such a Register. The draft regulations were laid before the Scottish Parliament on 20 June accompanied by an explanatory document.
They are subject to what is known as an enhanced affirmative parliamentary procedure. This means that Scottish Ministers must consult for a period of 60 days on their content (this period of 60 days does not include any time when the Scottish Parliament is dissolved or in recess for more than 4 days). Scottish Ministers must then take into account the results of that consultation before laying a final version of the Regulations before the Scottish Parliament.
Evidence
The Committee hosted a call for views from 29 June to 17 August 2018.
Next steps
The ECCLR Committee will consider evidence received in response to this Call for Views at its meeting on 4 September. The Committee then intends to hear evidence from stakeholders and from the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform. The timetable for the Committee's inquiry is set out in the table below. The Committee will produce a report on the evidence received.
Timetable
26 June 2018 |
Evidence session with Scottish Government Officials |
26 June 2018 |
Consideration of approach paper |
29 June 2018 |
Call for views issued |
17 August 2018 |
Call for views closes |
4 September 2018 |
Review of Evidence received |
25 September 2018 |
Possible Stakeholder Evidence Session |
2 October 2018 |
Possible Stakeholder Evidence Session |
23 October 2018 |
Evidence Session with the Cabinet Secretary |
30 October 2018 |
Consideration of Draft Report |
6 November 2018 |
Final Sign-Off of Report |
Correspondence