The Scottish Assessors Association
The Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) was instituted in 1975 at the time of local government reorganisation and is the successor body to the Association of Lands Valuation Assessors of Scotland (1957) and earlier bodies extending back to The Association of Lands Valuation Assessors (1886).
The SAA continued in being after the 1996 reorganisation of Scottish local government and operates in terms of a formal Constitution.
Although a voluntary organisation, all Assessors and their senior staff are members of the Association.
One of the principal functions of the Association is to facilitate a consistency of approach in the administration of the valuation, council tax and electoral registration services.
The policies and decisions of the Association have a bearing on how individual Assessors carry out their statutory duties, but each Assessor is an independent official.
The Association works through a series of Committees and associated Working Parties, which meet in advance of quarterly plenary sessions which are attended by representatives from all Assessors' offices.
The SAA also liaises with the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) in England and Wales, the Northern Ireland Valuation and Lands Agency (NIVLA) and the Republic of Ireland Valuation Office (RIVO) in matters of common interest.
The SAA website, www.saa.gov.uk, hosts a range of useful information, including the facility to lodge appeals against rateable values and proposals to change Council Tax bands electronically.