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Land Ownership - New register will improve transparency

20th June 2018

The first steps are being taken to create a public register of people who ultimately make decisions about how land is used and managed.

The Scottish Government is publishing proposals that will, if agreed, reveal for the first time the controlling interests of land owned by trusts and overseas companies.

The register will be held by Registers of Scotland and will be free to the public.

Land Reform Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said:"The proposals in these draft regulations can greatly improve the transparency about who is making decisions about Scotland's land. This creates the potential for people and communities to be able to directly engage with those parties, which we believe will lead to better decisions about how Scotland's land is used, ensuring that everyone can benefit from it.

"The Scottish Government is clear that it's no longer acceptable for the identity of people making decisions about land in Scotland to be obscured. Our proposals go further than any existing UK legislation. We're putting Scotland at the forefront of this policy in Europe.

"I am determined to ensure the register should be as easy to access as possible, so I am very pleased to announce that these proposals ensure that it will be free to use."

Some years ago Andy Wightman now a Scottish Green MSP for Lothian set up a web site with a lot of information - Who Owns Scotland - http://www.whoownsscotland.org.uk

His book of the same name came out a few years prior to that and Bill Fernie and others contributed a small amount of information following requests to the public for details to assist the publication. There have been no updates to the web site since 2015.

Earlier in 1979 John McEwan published a small book of his research on the question of Who Owns Scotland.

Andy Wightman a long time campaigner for more transparency is no doubt delighted at the latest move by Scottish government. Take a look at how he has developed his thinking over many years at -

set out at http://www.andywightman.com/archives/category/who-owns-scotland - a very interesting read on the twists and turns, anonymity and secrecy surrounding Scottish land ownership.