Chamber and committees

The Register of CommunityInterests in Land, which is available publicly through the Scottish Executiveand Registers of Scotland websites, presently contains 32 applications toregister community interests in land under part 2 of the act. Theseapplications cover a total of 25,297 hectares (62,484 acres) of land, equatingto 0.32% of the 7.9 million hectares in the whole of Scotland.Registrable land forms 98.6% of all land in Scotland.

Of the 32 applications sofar submitted to the department, 15 have secured a registered interest, ninehave been rejected, four were withdrawn and four await a decision of the Scottish ministers. Nine cases have proceeded to the right to buy stage, fiveof which have concluded the transfer of ownership to the local community. This hasresulted in 19,827 hectares (48,973 acres) of land being transferred tocommunity ownership under part 2 of the legislation. One case is presentlyproceeding through the right to buy process and a further five registeredcommunity interests have been approved and are awaiting notification from thelandowner of the intention to sell the land. This provides the opportunity fora further 43.5 hectares (107 acres) of land to be transferred to localcommunity ownership when it comes to be sold.

Part 3 of the act has also resultedin two applications so far, involving a further 28,140 hectares (69,505 acres) ofland. These cases are presently being considered.

Thelegislative approach, whilst providing a right to purchase land (in the case ofpart 2, when it comes to be sold), is not the only way for communities topurchase land, but its very existence may, in some cases, inspire a negotiatedsale to a local community. This is already the case at South Uist and Galson. TheForestry Commission Scotland’s National Forest Land Scheme, launched on 20 June 2005, alsoprovides an opportunity for communities to purchase forestry land. Twocommunity based applications, totalling 861 hectares (2,127 acres) have been received,and can be viewed on their website at www.forestry.gov.uk/nfls.Three further communities are at the pre-application phase of the NFLS and afurther five communities are presently considering their options. Also, voluntarydiscussion between a willing seller and willing buyer may provide an easieroption for communities wishing to acquire land.

More generally, lateststatistics from highlands and islands enterprise suggest that over 87,400hectares (216,000 acres) - just over 1% - of land in Scotland iscurrently under community ownership. In addition, over 13,000 hectares (over32,700 acres) of land is being leased to, or managed by, communities. Thisprovides over 100,700 hectares (almost one quarter of a million acres) undercommunity control in Scotland.  Furthermore, over 130,400 hectares (over 322,000acres) of land is presently subject to aspiring community land initiatives,which may result in community ownership or communities leasing land in thefuture.

There has been a high levelof interest in the right to buy legislation and the Scottish Executive iscontinuing to encourage rural communities to consider all available options toassist with delivering benefits to local communities. It is for communities todetermine for themselves whether land ownership is the preferred option in eachcase. Local benefit may be delivered through other options, such as leasingland. Scottish Executive officials are available to discuss options with anyindividual or community representative on the Land Reform Helpdesk on0131 244 6003, and we would encourage prospective community bodies to makecontact with officials at the earliest opportunity.

This information is not available.

The total square footage of the Scottish Executive owned buildings is 534,863 square feet. The total squarefootage of Scottish Executive leased buildings is 404,154 square feet. Thetotal square footage of MOTO buildings is 44,663 square feet. Thebreakdown of these figures is as follows:

Owned Buildings

Leased Buildings

MOTO Buildings

Product sourcing policiesare a matter for the supermarkets. The Executive encourages retailers tocontinue to offer consumers the option of purchasing Scottish pork products.