Commission to obtain information and compile register of crofts
40 Obtaining of information by Commission.
1
F5Without prejudice to any other provision of this Act whereby information may or shall be obtained by them, the Commission may by notice under this section served on the owner or the occupier of any holding F6, or on the executor of the person who most recently was the owner or occupier of any holding, require him to furnish them with such information as may be specified in the notice with regard to the extent, the rent and the tenure of the holding and with regard to such other matters relating to the ownership or the occupation of the holding as the Commission may reasonably require for the execution of their functions under this Act.
F151A
The information mentioned in subsection (1) above includes the age and date of birth of the owner or occupier of the holding or such other person or class of person as may be specified in the notice.
2
If any F7owner, occupier or executor on whom a notice has been served under subsection (1) above—
a
fails without reasonable cause or neglects to furnish to the Commission within 3 months after the service of the notice the information specified in the notice; or
b
in furnishing such information as aforesaid knowingly or recklessly furnishes any information which is false in a material particular,
he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of an amount not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.
F43
Where the Commission impose a requirement under subsection (1) above, to provide information on any person making an application under this Act (the requirement being for the purposes of the application), the Commission may if they think fit decline to do anything in relation to the application until they are satisfied either that the requirement has been complied with or that it is not practicable to comply with the requirement.
4
If the Commission are satisfied that it is not practicable to comply with the requirement (the “original requirement”) they may modify it; and subsection (3) above shall apply in relation to the modified requirement as that subsection applies to the original requirement.
5
This section applies in relation to a common grazing as it applies in relation to a holding except that for the purposes of that application references in the section to an occupier of a holding are to be construed as references to a crofter who shares in the common grazing.
40AF16Annual notices
1
The Commission must—
a
by notice given to each crofter, require the crofter to provide the Commission with the information mentioned in subsection (2);
b
by notice given to each owner-occupier crofter, require the crofter to provide the Commission with the information mentioned in subsection (3).
2
The information referred to in subsection (1)(a) is—
a
whether or not the crofter is complying with the duties mentioned in sections 5AA, 5B and 5C;
b
where the crofter is not complying with one or more of those duties—
i
in the case of the duty mentioned in section 5AA, whether the Commission have granted consent under section 21B;
ii
in any case (other than the duty not to misuse the croft), whether a subtenant of the crofter by virtue of a lease to which section 27 applies is complying with the duty; and
c
information relating to any other matter the Commission may require.
3
The information referred to in subsection (1)(b) is—
a
whether or not the owner-occupier crofter is complying with the duties mentioned in section 19C(2);
b
where the owner-occupier crofter is not complying with one or more of those duties—
i
in the case of the duty mentioned in section 19C(2)(a), whether the Commission have granted consent under section 21B;
ii
in any case (other than the duty not to misuse the croft), whether a tenant of the crofter by virtue of a short lease (within the meaning of section 29A) is complying with the duty; and
c
information relating to any other matter the Commission may require.
4
The first notices under subsection (1) must be given as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of the period of 1 year beginning with the day section 36 of the 2010 Act comes into force.
5
Subsequent notices must be given as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of each successive 1 year period.
6
Subsection (2) of section 40 applies to a notice given under subsection (1) of this section as it applies to a notice served under subsection (1) of that section.
7
Section 55(1A) does not apply to a notice given under subsection (1).
41 Register of Crofts.
1
It shall be the duty of the Commission to compile and maintain F2the register known as the Register of Crofts .
2
There shall be entered in the Register of Crofts—
a
the name, location, rent and extent of every croft;
b
the name F12, age and date of birth of the tenant and the landlord of each croft;
F17c
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F10ca
the landlord's address and, where the tenant's address is different from the address of the croft, the tenant's address;
cb
where the landlord's estate is managed on his behalf by another person, a statement that it is so managed and the name and address of that other person;
cc
where the tenant of a croft holds a right in a common grazing—
i
the location and boundaries of the grazing;
ii
the owner of the grazing and his address;
iii
any use of the grazing as woodlands by virtue of section 50, or of woodlands as part of the grazing by virtue of section 50A, of this Act; and
iv
any other use of the grazing, except use for grazing purposes, use as woodlands or use regulated by a scheme drawn up by the Commission under section 52(9) of this Act;
cd
any—
i
determination by the Commission under section 3A(7)(a) of this Act or by the Land Court on any question coming before it (whether or not on appeal) under this Act;
ii
order under F13section 26H(1) of this Act;
iii
direction under section 24(3) F14, 24B(1) or 25(4) of this Act;
iv
reorganisation scheme prepared under section 38(8)(a) of this Act;
v
apportionment under section 52(3) or (4) of this Act; and
vi
order under section 53B(2) of this Act;
ce
any other order, determination, consent, authorisation or other proceeding of theirs which they consider it is appropriate to have recorded in the Register of Crofts;
cf
any agreement between a landlord and a crofter concerning access between a public road and the croft by a route lying wholly over land owned by the landlord, being an agreement intimated to the Commission by the landlord or crofter (the intimation being in such form as the Commission may require and there being provided to the Commission, along with the intimation, a copy of the agreement);
cg
any agreement for a loan sent to the Commission by virtue of section 46A(2)(e) of this Act;
d
such other matters relating to each croft as the Commission may, with the approval of the Secretary of State, decide are proper to be entered in the Register;
and the Commission shall from time to time insert new entries in the Register or alter or omit existing entries so far as may be necessary to ensure F11, so far as practicable, that the Register is consistent with such information as the Commission has obtained under or by virtue of this Act and shall send a copy of any new entry, or of any entry altered by them, to the landlord and the tenant of the croft concerned, and shall intimate the omission of any entry to the owner and the tenant (if any) of the land concerned:
F3...
F12A
Subsection (2) above applies in relation to land constituted as a common grazing under section 51A of this Act, the owner of that land and the persons sharing in the common grazing as it applies in relation to a croft and its landlord and tenant; and an entry made by virtue of this subsection must contain the information that the common grazing is so constituted.
F93
A person is entitled on request to receive from the Commission a copy or extract of an entry in the Register of Crofts.
3A
An extract of an entry in the Register of Crofts shall be certified as such by a person authorised for the purposes of this subsection by the Commission; and a document which bears to be an extract so certified shall be sufficient evidence that the Register contains the entry.
4
The register of crofts compiled by the Commission under section 15(2) of the 1955 Act shall, so far as it contains particulars which are required by or under subsection (2) above to be entered in the Register of Crofts, be deemed to have been compiled by the Commission in pursuance of subsection (1) above.
F85
The Crofters Holdings Book shall be incorporated into the Register of Crofts and as so incorporated shall be deemed to have been compiled by the Commission in pursuance of subsection (1) above.