Hi All,

 I have some good news and a question for you.  The good news is last week the Scottish Parliament's Local Government and Communities Committee passed an amendment to the Housing Bill which will give Scottish Councils the same express permission to use council tax data for identifying vacant dwellings and attempting to bring them back into use as s.85 of the Local Government Finance Act gives to councils south of the border.  So we are very happy about that. 

However as the bill will not commence until next year I am trying to encourage councils to go ahead and share this data in advance.  But I've had a query from council tax staff in Scotland about whether councils in England have ever been subject to challenges under data protection after contacting empty home owners using council tax data? 

 Any info is useful,

Thanks

Kristen Miller

Empty Homes Coordinator

Shelter Scotland

0344 515 2461