…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
Local Government: Administration of a town or other comparatively small district by elected representatives of the people who live there, as distinguished from central government; the governing body responsible for this: Oxford English Dictionary Fifty years ago, at midnight tonight,
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This blog provides an update on the two previous ones in relation to determining the beneficial ownership of two companies – North Glen Estates Ltd, registered in the Turks and Caicos Islands, which owns North Glenbuchat Estate in Aberdeenshire, and,
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In my blog yesterday, I reported a breach of rules introduced to improve transparency in landownership. I have reported the matter to Police and will be reporting back here on progress. Meanwhile, I am pleased to publish this guest blog
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The above image was taken in 2014 in connection with a police raid at that time. On 2 May 2025, Police Scotland issued the following statement. Two men have been arrested and charged in connection with wildlife offences following enquiries
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The Supreme Court decision in For Women Scotland vs Scottish Ministers ruled that the protected characteristic of sex (being male or female) in the Equality Act 2010 means biological sex and not that certified via a Gender Recognition Certificate under
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In the section at the end of my previous blog, I highlighted how the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill (the Bill) does not simply extend existing opportunities for community bodies to make late registration applications under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act
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UPDATE 28 March 2025 – the Clan Donald Estate is now being advertised at offers over £6,750,000. A sales brochure can be downloaded here (2.9Mb pdf). The Stage One debate on the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill took place on Wednesday
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I have prepared a brieifng for MSPs ahead of the Stage One debate on the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill on Wednesday 26 March 2025. You can download a copy here.
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Today I have published what I plan to be an annual analysis of who owns Scotland. The Who Owns Scotland 2024 report is based on an analysis of data from the Who Owns Scotland website as at 31 January 2025.
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Scottish Land and Estates has argued in recent years that large-scale landholdings are best placed to deliver public policy objectives associated with woodland expansion, peatland restoration and other large scale projects. Scale can help of course but it is nonsense
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