…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
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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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 an analysis of the landholdings in Scotland above 1000ha and 3000ha that are in scope in relation to the provisions in Part I of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill introduced to Parliament by the SNP/Scottish Green
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BACKGROUND Ten years ago today, the Land Reform Review Group (LRRG) published its Final Report. In July 2012, Scottish Ministers appointed the LRRG with the following remit:- “The relationship between the land and the people of Scotland is fundamental to
Continue readingI like listening to the growing number of podcasts covering a wide range of topics. A particular favourite at the moment is the remarkable story of the diary that was at the centre of the controversy over the sinking of
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Today, the STUC has published an open letter to Scotland’s political parties urging them to revalue Scotland’s domestic property in order to provide an accurate tax base for the Council Tax which is still based on property valuations from 1991.
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On 8 January 2020, the then Housing Minister, Kevin Stewart, made a statement to Parliament announcing the Government’s proposals for the regulation of short-term lets. I had been campaigning on this topic alongside other MSPs such as Kezia Dugdale for
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In my previous blog I discussed whether the new short-term licensing regime covers house swaps and house sitting. House swaps are where two parties agree to swap their home for a period of time (usually for a holiday). House sitting
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The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 obliges hosts and operators of short-term let accommodation to obtain a license in order to continue to be able to trade legally. Excluded from the this requirement is
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TWO YEARS AGO Two years ago, on 18 March 2021, the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints (the Committee) met for the final time and signed off its Final Report which was published on 23 March 2021.
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