Non-domestic rates charged on shooting rights and deer forests: FOI release

Information requested

1. How much has the Scottish Government paid since 2019 (broken down by year and by council area) to local councils in sporting rates?

a. What was the main purpose of this expenditure? Please provide dates and any further details and/or correspondence relating to the expenditure on sporting rates.

2. How much have Scottish Ministers paid since 2019 (broken down by year and by council area) to local councils in sporting rates?

b. What was the main purpose of this expenditure, and which Scottish Ministers were involved?

Please provide dates and any further details and/or correspondence relating to the expenditure on sporting rates.

3. Please provide a list of the public bodies which were charged sporting rates in each year from 2019/20 to 2022/3, with a breakdown of how much was paid by each.

Response

In dealing with your request, I have understood “sporting rates” to mean non-domestic rates charged on shooting rights and deer forests.

The answer to question 1 is that the Scottish Government has not paid non-domestic rates in respect of shooting rights and deer forests since 2019. The Scottish Government is not the ratepayer for any shooting rights or deer forests.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested in questions 2 and 3.

With regard to question 2, I have interpreted you to mean how much have agencies or other public bodies funded by the Scottish Government paid in non-domestic rates relating to shooting rights and deer forests. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested in question 2 as it is a matter for those agencies or public bodies. You may wish to contact agencies such as Forestry and Land Scotland who may be able to help you. The contact details for Forestry and Land Scotland are available at:
https://forestryandland.gov.scot/contact.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested in question 3 as the billing and collection of non-domestic rates is a matter for local councils. You may wish to contact individual local authorities who may be able to help you. Contact details for each council are available at:
https://www.mygov.scot/organisations#scottish-local-authority.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.