Committee
Justice 1 Committee, 10 Dec 2002
10 Dec 2002 · S1 · Justice 1 Committee
Item of business
Title Conditions (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
Mr Wallace:
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Yes. In the stage 1 debate, we discussed whether the provision should be available to private bodies and individuals, rather than restricted to local authorities and Scottish ministers. Unlike private landowners, local authorities have a duty to promote economic development. They can often achieve that by making land available for new enterprises. If the value of the land increases subsequently, it is only right that the local authority should be able to share in that increase, so that the benefit of the investment that it has made returns to the public purse.Private landowners do not operate under such a duty. However, there are other mechanisms available to private landowners who want to make land available for public-spirited purposes. Those include standard securities, which can be used to secure a contract for clawback, long leases and trust arrangements. All those mechanisms would give the landowner an element of control over subsequent development of land, without the use of real burdens.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
SNP
I will rattle on, because we have an awful lot to get through. Item 3 on the agenda is consideration of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Bill. I welcome the M...
Section 1—The expression "real burden"
The Convener:
SNP
Amendment 87 is grouped with amendments 106, 107, 108, 233, 235, 208, 64, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 238, 239 and 75.
The Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice (Mr Jim Wallace):
LD
Amendment 87 will introduce into the bill economic development burdens as one of the exceptions to the general rule that burdens must benefit other land.Amen...
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
Con
Does amendment 106 provide for clawback for the public sector? I assume that in certain circumstances economic burdens might relate to clawback.
Mr Wallace:
I confirm that the amendment provides for clawback.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
Con
I declare an interest as an unpaid trustee. Does the minister believe that there are no circumstances in which the provision should apply to the private sector?
Mr Wallace:
Yes. In the stage 1 debate, we discussed whether the provision should be available to private bodies and individuals, rather than restricted to local authori...
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
Con
Is the minister's view that the public interest should be paramount in circumstances of the kind that we are discussing?
Mr Wallace:
That is the motivation for amendment 106. The amendment accords with the evidence that COSLA gave to the committee at stage 1.
Amendment 87 agreed to.
The Convener:
SNP
Amendment 222 is grouped with amendments 223 to 226.
Maureen Macmillan:
Lab
Amendment 223 is the main amendment in the group. The bill proposes a special status for conservation bodies. In the same way, we believe that there should b...
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
Con
Does the minister accept that Maureen Macmillan has a valid point? In certain parts of the Highlands, local people have difficulty in obtaining low-cost home...
Mr Wallace:
As Maureen Macmillan indicated, amendment 223 seeks to ensure that, where bodies sell land at affordable prices for local social community housing purposes, ...
Maureen Macmillan:
Lab
I am pleased to hear the minister say that he realises that the issue is important in rural areas. I would be happy to withdraw amendment 222, on the basis t...
Amendment 222, by agreement, withdrawn.
Section 1, as amended, agreed to.
Section 2 agreed to.
Section 3—Other characteristics
The Convener:
SNP
Amendment 88 is grouped with amendment 73.
Mr Wallace:
Amendment 88, together with amendment 73, will resolve a technical problem that might have allowed people who do not have any right to enforce a condition to...
Amendment 88 agreed to.
Section 3, as amended, agreed to.
Section 4—Creation
The Convener:
SNP
Amendment 89 is grouped with amendments 169, 170 and 182.
Mr Wallace:
Section 4 is about the creation of real burdens after the appointed day. As the committee will see, paragraph (c) of subsection (2) is about the identificati...
Amendment 89 agreed to.
Section 4, as amended, agreed to.
Sections 5 and 6 agreed to.