Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015: Key points for public and local authorities

The new Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 will enable members of the public to directly influence regeneration by targeting specific assets.

The main objectives of the Act are to allow community bodies to gain control of land and buildings in some circumstances, and give communities a louder voice when it comes to public services.

This is to be done by a process of decentralising decision-making to communities at a local level – the aim being that communities will regenerate local areas by themselves, rather than having regeneration initiatives introduced without specific consultation.

The Act was passed in July 2015. Although none of the provisions are yet in force, the first of these, relating to business rates relief, will come into force on 31 October 2015. The rest are expected to come into force over the coming year.

The key provisions are:

1. Community Right to Buy The community right to buy will no longer simply be a rural issue; the previous statutory restriction, which meant that the right only applied to communities of less than 10,000, will be removed. This means that the right will be extended to all land, including urban, industrial and commercial property. Before registering an interest in land, the Scottish Ministers will have to be satisfied that at least 10% of the local community supports the application.
2. Right to Buy Abandoned, Neglected and Detrimental Land The Act introduces a wholly new right which will allow a community the right to buy land which is abandoned or neglected, and in a condition likely to cause harm to the environmental wellbeing of the surrounding community. The Act does not define what constitutes abandoned or neglected land, although it does specifically exclude residential property, crofts and property vested in the Crown. The key difference between this right and the more general community right to buy is that the community does not need to wait for a landowner to decide to sell; the Scottish Ministers can force the owners to sell if the sale is decided to be in the public interest.
3. Common Good Property Local authorities will have to keep a register of all common good property and consult with community bodies before disposing of or changing the use of any common good property. This is to be done by the relevant local authority publishing details of any proposal, notifying the interested community body or council and taking into account any representations made.
4. Non-domestic Rates From 31 October 2015, local authorities can create customised business rates relief schemes for non-domestic property. In creating these schemes, the local authority must ensure that the interests of domestic council tax payers are not impacted, as any relief must be recouped from other local authority income and not domestic council tax income.
5. Other provisions The Act also includes many additional provisions which will need to be considered by local authorities in the coming months. These include a right for community bodies to lease or use local authority-owned ground, and a general obligation on public authorities to promote the participation of the public in community decisions and issues.

The practical implications of the Act will become clearer over the next year. In the meantime CMS are, of course, happy to assist in providing further information and/or to discuss any preparatory work relating to the Act.

For more information, please contact Megan Rea (0141 304 6068) or Amy Norton (0141 304 6077).