Part 8: Public Authority Land Section 207: Engagement with public authorities in relation to proposals to dispose of land
This section provides for engagement, when Ministers of the Crown or other public authorities specified in regulations  are developing proposals to dispose of land, with the local authority and other relevant public authorities to ensure local policy considerations are taken into account before decisions are made.
	This section therefore contains a duty that applies to Ministers of the Crown when developing a proposal to dispose of land. The duty requires a Minister of the Crown to engage on an ongoing basis with a) each local authority in whose area the land is situated, and b) any public authority, or public authority of a description, specified in regulations made by the Minister for the Cabinet Office (MCO).
	This section also gives a power to the MCO to specify additional public authorities which are subject to a duty to engage when developing a proposal to dispose of land, and to specify which public authorities they must engage with. Regulations made by the MCO may also specify land, or descriptions of land, which a Minister of the Crown or other specified public authority can develop proposals to dispose of without complying with the duty to engage.
	Any person who is subject to a duty under this section must have regard to guidance given by the MCO about how to comply with the duty. The guidance could, for example, specify what themes and commercial issues the engagement should cover and what level of engagement is appropriate in different cases.
	This section extends to England and Wales and Scotland. However, the MCO's power to specify public authorities that must carry out engagement whilst developing a proposal to sell land (and to specify those authorities which must be engaged with) is limited in Scotland and Wales. In relation to Scotland the power may only be used to specify Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs or a body to which paragraph 3 of Part 3 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 applies. Bodies to which paragraph 3 applies include for example, the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
	In relation to Wales, the power may not be used to impose duties on an authority which has functions that are exercisable only in relation to Wales and relate to a matter which the Welsh Ministers have power to deal with, or which the National Assembly for Wales can legislate about.