Introduction

This document provides a summary of quality related information on the

Community Ownership in Scotland publication series. The Community Ownership in Scotland publication provides summary statistics of assets owned by community groups in Scotland.

There are several initiatives which have been put in place to enable community ownership. The Scottish Land Fund, as it is now known, was founded in 2001. It now supports both rural and urban communities to become more resilient and sustainable through the ownership and management of assets. Legislation concerning land reform commencing in 2004 and 2016 enhanced existing community right to buy.

The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 introduced new legislation giving communities the right to request to buy, lease, manage or use land and buildings belonging to local authorities, Scottish public bodies or Scottish Ministers.

An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland

The statistics in the Community Ownership in Scotland publication are official statistics. Official statistics are statistics that are produced by crown bodies, those acting on behalf of crown bodies, or those specified in statutory orders, as defined in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Scottish Government statistics are regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

More information about Scottish Government statistics is available on the Scottish Government website.