Committee
Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee 25 January 2021
25 Jan 2021 · S5 · Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee
Item of business
Subordinate Legislation
Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land) Regulations 2020 [Draft]
I thank Mark Ruskell for his questions. The register will be integrated on the system with other registers that are held by Registers of Scotland, and will be accessible as part of the ScotLIS system. The register will be fully available to members of the public. From a company law perspective, there will also be integration, to the extent that it is possible, with registers that are held by Companies House. I would be grateful if my officials could elaborate on what I have said and give Mr Ruskell feedback on testing.
In the same item of business
The Convener
SNP
Our second item is evidence on the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land) Regulations 2020. I welc...
Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green)
Green
I welcome the minister to his new portfolio. I have a couple of questions about public accessibility of the new register. You will have seen from evidence th...
The Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment (Ben Macpherson)
SNP
I thank Mark Ruskell for his questions. The register will be integrated on the system with other registers that are held by Registers of Scotland, and will b...
Robin Cornwall (Scottish Government)
The first thing to say is that Registers of Scotland is at the very early stages of developing the system, because it does not want to pre-empt the parliamen...
Mark Ruskell
Green
Right. I have a related supplementary question. When do you expect that register to go live? We have been waiting a long time; the initial consultation was i...
Ben Macpherson
SNP
Collectively, we want that to be implemented as quickly as possible. Of course, I am aware and grateful that the committee appropriately accepted the Cabinet...
Mark Ruskell
Green
I have one more question. Are you 100 per cent sure that the regulations align with the 2018 European Union anti-money laundering directive?
Ben Macpherson
SNP
I will allow officials to come in on that shortly. The regulations have been designed to incorporate Westminster changes, including proposed company law legi...
Robin Cornwall
Yes—we are content that the regulations comply with that directive.
Mark Ruskell
Green
It is good to have that on the record.
The Convener
SNP
We are having difficulty getting Finlay Carson back, but I know what he was going to ask, so I will ask it on his behalf. The committee understands that Sco...
Ben Macpherson
SNP
Robin Cornwall can come in on that, having liaised with Registers of Scotland on the more technical side of implementation and on ScotLIS.
Robin Cornwall
Yes. On the two tiers of access, I believe that free access takes you to the boundaries of the specific title number and the last sale price of the property....
The Convener
SNP
So, that is a change from the existing arrangements: there will not be two tiers any more, and everyone will just have free access to everything. Is that wha...
Robin Cornwall
No—they will not have free access to the land register data. The information that will be held by the register that the committee is discussing with us will ...
The Convener
SNP
Okay, but for access to the enhanced information, there will be a fee of £3. Is that per search?
Robin Cornwall
As far as I am aware, the fee is per search, although I would have to double check that with Registers of Scotland.
The Convener
SNP
I will move on to the other thing that Finlay Carson was wanting to ask. We have asked whether there is a view on a requirement to have a Scotland registered...
Ben Macpherson
SNP
For clarity, the register that we are talking about today will be free. As has been articulated previously by officials, the charges have been significantly ...
Robin Cornwall
There is no requirement within the regulations to provide an address in Scotland; the key thing is that there must be an address at which the person is conta...
Ben Macpherson
SNP
There are concerns that overseas legal entities that own, or that lease land under a long lease of 20-plus years, can often be opaque, so it can be hard to i...
The Convener
SNP
Finlay Carson will probably want to follow up on a couple of those answers. If we cannot get him back, I might suspend the meeting briefly. Before we do that...
Claudia Beamish (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I welcome the minister to his first session with the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee. I wish to follow up on an aspect that you touche...
Ben Macpherson
SNP
As you alluded to in your question, the criminal penalties that we have included in the regulations are the maximum that are permitted under the 2016 act. Th...
Claudia Beamish
Lab
Thank you; I wanted to highlight that point, as stakeholders have highlighted it to us. I tend to agree with it, but there we are.
The Convener
SNP
We do not seem to have been able to get Finlay Carson back while we have been live on air, so I suspend the meeting briefly. 13:47 Meeting suspended. 13:52...
The Convener
SNP
We appear to have sorted out the technical issue with Finlay Carson’s connection. Finlay, I am not sure whether you heard the minister’s responses to the que...
Ben Macpherson
SNP
Thank you, convener. I could proceed through the opening statement that I intended to make, if that would be helpful to the committee.
The Convener
SNP
That would be helpful. I should have allowed you to do that in the first place, so I apologise. If you give your statement, members can then ask any other qu...
Ben Macpherson
SNP
Thank you, convener. As members know, the regulations, if they are approved by Parliament, will bring into force part 3 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 20...