Community Engagement Obligations and draft large land holdings guidance under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2025
Community Engagement Obligations: Land Management Plans - relationship to existing guidance
There is existing guidance on good practice for engaging with communities, including the “Guidance on Engaging Communities in Decisions Relating to Land” (“the 2016 Act Guidance”) which is required to be published by the Scottish Government and reviewed on a 5-yearly basis by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (“the 2016 Act”).
During the 2025 Act’s Parliamentary consideration, there were calls to make it clear how the regulations and guidance for the community engagement obligations related to other existing guidance, including the guidance published under the 2016 Act.
The 2016 Act Guidance was reviewed in March 2026 and recommended changes should be made to a future iteration of the 2016 Act Guidance. The 2016 Act Guidance does not replace statutory requirements for community engagement where these exist, and it will not replace the requirements for engagement on LMPs.
The timeline for the development of the regulations and guidance for LMPs and the recent review of the 2016 Act Guidance, provides an opportunity to consider how these can inform and interact with one another, to avoid duplication, and provide clarity on when and how these different pieces of guidance should be used.