Stay up to date with everything happening at Registers of Scotland (RoS) with our monthly update.
Key messages:
- Fee review consultation
- Unlocking Sasine’s records
- Tackling our caseload
- Non-Executive Director recruitment
- RoS Regional Workshops
- Welcome back webinar
- Geovation Scotland
Fee review consultation
On Monday 26 October we launched a public consultation into our proposed fee review.
The views of our customers and stakeholders really matter to us so please follow this link to share yours.
Earlier this month you will have seen a temporary £10 increase in our fees. This wider fee review is the next step to secure subordinate legislation and permanently set revised statutory fees in law. This consultation was highlighted in our 2020 – 2025 Corporate Plan and will be the first time that our fees have been in increased since 2011. This will allow us to cover costs and meet our aim to operate on a self-sustaining basis.
You can find full details of our proposals and how you can get involved on the Scottish Government’s Citizen Space consultation hub.
The consultation includes questions such as: ‘Do you agree that rejection fees should be removed?’ and ‘Do you agree that the fees we charge should at a minimum recover our costs?’
Deadline for responses is 11.59pm on 24 December 2020.
Unlocking Sasine’s records
Thank you to those who asked some very insightful questions on my recent blog about our new approach to unlocking Sasines records. We have a series of further blogs planned in the coming weeks exploring these areas of interest. In the first one, Alan Howie, our Chief Data Officer will answer some of the questions posed.
Tackling our caseload
As part of our six-monthly corporate plan review, we are updating our strategy and targets to tackle any applications that are out with service standard. I will update you on those plans in more detail following the next meeting of our Board on 09 November 2020.
The need to review the targets has been driven by the fact that, although RoS was on track to clear the first registration cases that had fallen out of service standard by the target date of September 2020, and was making good progress on tackling the small number of transfers of part that were in the backlog, we lost momentum during lockdown as we necessarily switched our focus to delivering digital solutions that supported Scotland’s housing market.
We are engaging with relevant stakeholders, including the Law Society of Scotland, UK Finance and representatives from some of the UK’s largest lenders, to discuss the arrear and address any concerns that customers and stakeholders might have that a case being in our backlog represented risk to their business or their clients. From these conversations to date it is clear that the advance notice system, our ability to expedite cases and our ongoing commitment to only reject older cases when it is legally unavoidable, will mitigate any potential risk.
Going forward, we will continue to work closely with all customer groups to ensure they receive all the support they need whilst we work to remove the backlog and fully implement the necessary operational process changes to ensure that, once the current cases have been processed, the concept of a backlog is consigned to history and all new cases are completed within service standard.
The latest figures are published monthly on the service standard page of our website.
Non-Executive Director recruitment
Are you a strategic thinker with strong communication skills? Can you pose constructive challenge and help improve performance? You could have what it takes to join our board as one of our two new Non-Executive Directors.
I believe that Non-Executives are of great value to RoS as they provide advice and bring an external perspective which helps to deliver our strategic objectives in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. I am proud to lead an organisation with a diverse Board. It is important that continues and people who wouldn’t traditionally be Non-Execs are encouraged to apply.
Details on how to submit your application are available on the RoS recruitment portal.
Application deadline is midday on Sunday 01 November.
Regional workshops
Do you want to hear directly from RoS experts on the latest developments and how to get the best out of our services? Join me at our virtual workshop series running from now until January 2021 to find out more about ScotLIS, the expedite service and how to avoid rejections.
Sign up via our website. If you have missed the one for your region then feel free to sign up for the next convenient date.
Welcome back webinar
We know that many of you will be coming back to work after furlough and we want you to get back up to speed with the changes at RoS as soon as possible.
With the support of the Law Society Scotland we have put together a Welcome Back Webinar that you can watch on YouTube at any time which will give you an overview of everything you need to know.
Geovation Scotland
I am delighted by the continued progress made by the entrepreneurs in the Geovation Scotland programme. With support from RoS and access to our land and property data the cohorts are making great strides forward with their businesses.
Some examples from our recent cohort include:
- Doorstep Market, which connects consumers to independent food producers through an easy to use delivery service, is now delivering curated boxes of local produce in the Edinburgh area;
- Electrek Explorer, which is working to develop an electric vehicle tech app to support the green economy has beaten 238 other companies to be selected as a finalist for the ‘Unlocking Ambition’ accelerator; and
- Homey, a pre-sale property renovation company which helps homeowners to renovate and defer payment until sale, has just secured a prominent Edinburgh property expert to be their new Non-Executive Director.
You can keep up to date with the Geovation Scotland programme on their website.
Contact us
A bespoke email address covid19enquiries@ros.gov.uk is available for general questions about RoS processes and procedures during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Please direct enquiries about specific property transactions and cases to:
Email: customerservices@ros.gov.uk
Phone: 0800 169 9391
If there are is anything else you would like to bring to my attention during this period, please email FAO Jennifer Henderson: rossecretariat@ros.gov.uk
Jennifer Henderson, Keeper of the Registers of Scotland