Agenda item

Consider report by Principal Solicitor.  (Copy attached.)

1.1         There had been circulated a paper by Principal Solicitor which advised on the outcome of the consultation under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, and sought approval of the final Common Good Register for Lauder.  Under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 the Council was required to establish and maintain a register of property which was held by the authority as part of the Common Good (“a Common Good Register”).  Before establishing a Common Good Register, the Act required the Council to publish a list of property that it proposed to include in the Register and to consult the public on the list.  The Lauder Common Good Sub-Committee approved the draft asset register in December 2021 and agreed to the commencement of the public consultation. The consultation ran from December 2021 to 31 March 2022.   The Sub Committee was required to consider any responses received to the consultation, and approve the final register to be recommended to Council for publication.

1.2         The Principal Solicitor advised that there were 65 responses to the consultation and 2 of these responses related to Lauder.  The responses confirmed the draft registers and did not provide any comment.  This was considered to show how advanced Lauder was with its common good register.  The Sub-Committee was asked to note the draft register and to recommend to Council the register be finalised and published.  Following approval by the Sub-Committee, the Principal Solicitor advised that Council will consider publication of finalised registers for all Common Good registers in the Scottish Borders and that the full Scottish Borders Common Good Asset Register was to be published by the end of September 2022.  If any further assets were identified as being Common Good, or if existing property was disposed of or reclassified, the Council would update the Common Good Asset Registers.  The Council would also ensure that the Common Good Asset Registers be reviewed on a regular basis, and at least every five years.

1.3         Mr Smith advised that the Provost robes were held in the Town Hall.  The Principal Solicitor agreed that the register would be updated.

DECISION

(a)       NOTED the completion of the consultation and the responses received, as set out in this Report;

(b)       AGREED to approve the contents of the final list of heritable and moveable property assets held by the Council within the former Burgh of Lauder, as set out in Appendix 1;

(c)       AGREED to recommend to Council the said final asset list for publication as a completed Common Good Register for Lauder; and,

(d)       AGREED to update the register to state that the Provost robes were held in the Town Hall.