3.—(1) An appeal to the Scottish Ministers under section 85(2) of the Act is to be made by giving notice in writing in accordance with this regulation.
(2) The notice of appeal must be served on the Scottish Ministers within the period of 20 working days beginning with, in the case of an appeal made by virtue of—
(a)section 85(1)(a) or (b) of the Act, the date of the decision notice; and
(b)section 85(1)(c) of the Act, the date of expiry of the period allowed for determination of the request.
(3) The notice of appeal must—
(a)include the name and contact address of the community transfer body;
(b)specify the land to which the asset transfer request relates; and
(c)include a statement setting out full particulars of the appeal including a note of the matters which the community transfer body considers require to be taken into account in determining the appeal and by what, if any, procedure (or combination of procedures) the community transfer body considers the appeal should be conducted.
(4) The notice of appeal must be accompanied by—
(a)a copy of the asset transfer request;
(b)a copy of the documents provided by the community transfer body to the relevant authority in connection with the asset transfer request; and
(c)where the appeal is made by virtue of section 85(1)(a) or (b) of the Act, a copy of the decision notice.
(5) Subject to paragraph (6)—
(a)all matters which the community transfer body intends to raise in the appeal must be set out in the notice of appeal or in the documents which accompany the notice of appeal; and
(b)all documents, materials and evidence which the community transfer body intends to rely on in the appeal must accompany the notice of appeal.
(6) In addition to matters set out in the notice of appeal and documents which accompany the notice of appeal, the community transfer body may raise matters and submit further documents, materials or evidence only—
(a)in accordance with and to the extent permitted by regulation 4 or 5; or
(b)where the Scottish Ministers make a request (under regulation 9(1), rule 1(1) of the Hearing Session Rules or otherwise) for further representations to be made or further information to be provided to them by the community transfer body.
(7) In this regulation—
“period allowed for determination of the request” means—
the period of 6 months beginning with the validation date; or
such longer period as may be agreed between the community transfer body and the relevant authority under section 82(8)(b) of the Act; and
“validation date” has the same meaning as in the Asset Transfer Request (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2016(1).
4.—(1) The community transfer body must at the same time as giving the notice of appeal to the Scottish Ministers send to the relevant authority—
(a)a copy of the notice of appeal;
(b)a list of all documents, materials and evidence which the community transfer body intends to rely on in the appeal and which accompanied the notice of appeal in accordance with regulation 3(4)(b); and
(c)a copy of all documents, materials and evidence specified on such list other than any documents, materials or evidence which—
(i)the community transfer body has already provided to the relevant authority in connection with the asset transfer request; or
(ii)the relevant authority otherwise already hold.
(2) The relevant authority must, before the expiry of the period of 15 working days beginning with the date of receipt of notification of an appeal under paragraph (1), send to the Scottish Ministers and the community transfer body—
(a)a note (“the relevant authority’s response”) of the matters which the relevant authority considers require to be taken into account in determining the appeal and by what, if any, procedure (or combination of procedures) the relevant authority considers the appeal should be conducted; and
(b)a copy of the documents (other than those specified on the list mentioned in paragraph (1)(b)) which were before the relevant authority and which were taken into account in reaching its decision.
(3) The community transfer body may, within the period of 15 working days beginning with the date of receipt of the relevant authority’s response, send to the Scottish Ministers and the relevant authority—
(a)comments on any matters raised in the relevant authority’s response which had not been raised in any decision notice given by the relevant authority; and
(b)any documents, materials or evidence on which the community transfer body intends to rely in relation to such comments.
(4) In addition to matters set out in the relevant authority’s response and related documents, the relevant authority may raise matters and submit further documents, materials or evidence only in accordance with and to the extent permitted by regulation 5(6) or where the Scottish Ministers make a request (under regulation 9(1), rule 1(1) of the Hearing Session Rules or otherwise) for further representations to be made or further information to be provided to them by the relevant authority.
5.—(1) The relevant authority must before the expiry of the period of 10 working days beginning with the date of receipt of notification of the appeal under regulation 4(1) give notice of the appeal to each interested party.
(2) Notice under paragraph (1) is to be given—
(a)in writing to an interested party who is an owner, tenant or occupier of the land to which the asset transfer request relates; and
(b)in writing or by advertisement in a newspaper circulating in the locality where the land is situated, to any other interested party.
(3) Notice under paragraph (1) is to—
(a)state the name of the community transfer body;
(b)specify the land to which the asset transfer request relates;
(c)state that copies of any representations previously made to the relevant authority, will be sent to the Scottish Ministers and the community transfer body and will be taken into consideration in the determination of the appeal;
(d)state that further representations may be made to the Scottish Ministers and include information as to how any representations may be made and by what date they must be made; and
(e)state how a copy of the notice of appeal and other documents related to the appeal may be inspected.
(4) An interested party may, within the period of 10 working days beginning with the date on which notice is given under paragraph (1), make representations in respect of the appeal to the Scottish Ministers.
(5) The Scottish Ministers are to send a copy of any representations received under paragraph (4) to the community transfer body and to the relevant authority and are to inform them how and by what date (being a date not less than 10 working days after the date on which such copy is sent under this paragraph) they may make comments to the Scottish Ministers on such representations.
(6) The community transfer body and the relevant authority may, on or before that date, make comments on such representations to the Scottish Ministers.
(7) An interested party may, in addition to any representations made by virtue of paragraph (4), raise matters and submit further documents, materials or evidence only in accordance with a request made by the Scottish Ministers (under regulation 9(1), rule 1(1) of the Hearing Session Rules or otherwise).
6. The Scottish Ministers must, in relation to an appeal, make copies of—
(a)the notice of appeal;
(b)the relevant authority’s response and any comments sent under regulation 4(3)(a);
(c)the documents—
(i)specified on the list mentioned in regulation 4(1)(b);
(ii)sent in accordance with regulation 4(2)(b) and (3)(b);
(d)any notice given under regulation 5(1); and
(e)any representations or comments made under regulation 5(4) or (6),
available for inspection on a website or by other electronic means until such time as the appeal is determined.