Minister announces new register of control of land in Scotland

Power to create a public register of who controls land in Scotland will be added to the Land Reform Bill under amendments to be proposed by the Scottish Government, the minister in charge of the bill has confirmed.

Land Reform Minister Aileen McLeod plans to give ministers the power to make regulations to create a public register to increase the transparency around who controls land in Scotland.

The move marks a concession to campaigners who claim that the bill does not go far enough to enable the public, and in particular rural communities, to be given a clear idea of who decides how land in their area is managed. At present it would give "interested parties" a right to information.

Dr McLeod commented: “There is rightly a great deal of interest in who owns Scotland. I have listened very carefully to the many views expressed, including by the Rural Affairs, Climate Change & Environment Committee, in favour of greater transparency on who controls land in Scotland. This is something I believe can benefit our country, particularly communities who wish to have more of a say over how land in their area is used and managed.

“That is why I am pleased to confirm that the Government plans to create a public register of who controls land in Scotland and to enable this we will amend the Land Reform Bill at stage 3 to give the powers required to create a public register which will contain the information needed to give greater transparency about who controls our land."

She added: “More work is required on complex legal issues, such as what information should be disclosed and how to protect the privacy of individuals. So I will put in place the necessary powers to allow further work to be done and ensure that this Bill delivers a framework that gives, subject to parliamentary scrutiny, detailed information about who controls land in Scotland.”