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Meeting of the Parliament 14 March 2012

14 Mar 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Land Registration etc (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Wilson, John SNP Central Scotland Watch on SPTV

I speak as a member of the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee, which held a number of evidence-gathering sessions as part of its detailed examination of the Land Registration etc (Scotland) Bill. In addition to taking oral evidence, it also gathered detailed written evidence, which was received on an almost weekly basis from organisations that wanted to get their point across to the committee.

The bill aims to introduce an element of modernity and reform and to restate the law in relation to the registration of rights in the land register. The committee’s stage 1 report on the proposed legislation notes that

“the powers contained within the Bill for increasing land registration will assist in securing the desired objective of a complete Land Register.”

One of the issues of concern for the committee was whether the bill would help to provide a complete land register once enacted. We were concerned that we were not progressing quickly enough towards a complete land register in Scotland.

During the committee’s evidence-gathering sessions, it became clear that progress since the passage of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 has been painfully slow, hence our suggestion that it would be desirable to set targets—even interim ones—in the bill. The minister addressed that issue when he gave evidence to the committee, but the committee felt that it would be useful to have at least some targets in the bill that we could try to work towards. One overriding objective of the proposed legislation is to have the fastest method of completing land registration efficiently, with sufficient safeguards built in to maintain robustness.

The committee held five evidence sessions, during which the automated registration of title to land system was raised as an issue. I welcome the minister’s commitment to raise with the keeper the matter of an upgrade. Behind such mechanistic processes, there is usually a human cost that needs to be considered. I hope that the proposed legislation will go some way towards tackling that issue.

There are also issues with prescriptive claims. The committee discussed how to deal with such claims and how they should be advertised. One solution that I came up with is to use the same process as is used in planning applications, so that anyone who makes a prescriptive claim would have to notify neighbours on surrounding land, who could then intervene or comment on any acquisition that was sought through a prescriptive claim.

Section 108 concerned the Law Society of Scotland and others. It is a key principle of the bill that giving the keeper a materially false or misleading statement will be made a statutory offence. I recognise that the Solicitor General for Scotland, Lesley Thomson, and the minister believe that the measure should be enshrined in legislation so that they have the legal force to deal with serious and organised crime. I also recognise that there is a significant problem. The bill attempts to address some of the concerns that have been identified with the process, particularly in relation to organised crime, in relation to which redress has been somewhat limited.

In oral evidence to the committee, the Solicitor General highlighted the importance of creating an offence to deal with structured criminality. That evidence was reflected in the committee’s stage 1 report. I welcome the Solicitor General’s desire to discuss with the Law Society of Scotland what further guidance and advice could be provided to solicitors when the proposed legislation becomes statute.

I welcome the stage 1 debate and the broad principles in the bill. I look forward to the bill coming back to the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee. I thank all those who provided written and oral evidence. I also thank the clerks and the committee adviser, as well as my fellow committee members, who scrutinised the bill at stage 1.

14:07

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Meeting of the Parliament 14 March 2012

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