The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 sets out the rights of communities to have significant influence or control over decisions and services which are most important to them. Part 5 of the Act gives community groups the right to request ownership, lease, or access rights to assets owned by the Council and other public bodies. This is known as Community Asset Transfer (CAT).
Read an overview of Perth and Kinross Council's Approach to Community Asset Transfer.
What support is available?
The Community Empowerment Officer is the dedicated officer at the Council who can support groups to navigate through the CAT process and support in gathering information required from various Council services. The Community Empowerment Officer can be contacted via CommunityEmpowerment@pkc.gov.uk and is happy to come out and meet with groups to discuss the process and any interest within your community.
We would also recommend reading through our Community Asset Transfer Toolkit (PDF, 1 MB) and you can complete the exercises in Toolkit Section 2 (PDF, 397 KB) to help you determine whether or not your group is ready to go through the CAT process.
You can also check the website links on this page for information and support from other agencies.
How does a group make a request?
We recommend the first step is to contact the Community Empowerment Officer to discuss your ideas.
If your community group is interested in exploring asset transfer of a particular property, please complete the Expression of Interest Form (PDF, 244 KB) (also available in Word format (Word doc, 1 MB)). This is not part of the legal process but allows officers to provide feedback and support for your application.
Following this your group will need to develop a robust business plan, carry out community engagement and complete a Community Asset Transfer Request Form Stage 2 (PDF, 344 KB), (also available in Word format (Word doc, 7 MB)). Submitting these documents begins the legal process. The Guidance for Making a Community Asset Transfer Request (PDF, 291 KB) can assist with completing the Stage 2 form.
How do we assess and consider requests?
Officers on the Community Asset Transfer team use the Community Asset Transfer Scoring Matrix (PDF, 450 KB) to assess the sustainability of the project, as well as potential benefits for your community. A recommendation will then be made to the Finance and Resources Committee for Elected Members to make a decision on your application.
How does a community group fund CAT?
There are various sources of funding to help with developing your ideas, acquiring an asset, and making improvements once your group have entered the asset. We can sometimes offer some financial support as well as signposting to external funding sources. Our Community Empowerment Officer and Community Learning and Development Team can discuss what particular funding may be available to your group. You may also wish to check the SCVO Funding Scotland website, as well as Foundation Scotland for information on other external funding.
What requests have previously been made to the Council?
The Community Asset Transfer case library has all the documentation for transfer requests made to us that have reached stage 2.
For other information around our CAT activity, please read our annual reports:
What properties does the Council own?
View a list of Perth and Kinross Council-owned sites (Excel doc, 70 KB). This list of assets is currently being reviewed and may not be completely accurate.
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