The row over CnES charging for croft tenanted properties rages on with the council refusing to permit our amendment.
Despite this amendment being entirely consistent with the Legal Opinion that the council itself obtained.
Extract from Sir Crispen Agnew:
“Where a croft is owned, then the council are able to secure a charging order over
the croft under section 23 of the Health and Social Services Security
Adjudications Act 1983, because an owner occupied croft is an interest in land.
The problem relates to tenanted crofts, because a charging order cannot be
secured over the tenancy.”
The Senior Counsel goes on to explain that “One option would probably be to make the crofter or a deceased crofter’s estate bankrupt”.
If this Comhairle’s councillors instructs its officers to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against the children of deceased crofters this still will not secure money for the council. It is only the Landlord that can remove the tenancy to try and get money from a new tenant and hope the landlord passes any profit to the council.
A journal written by the SNP opposition group on the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council).
