4. Cab Filming Permits (003)
North Ayrshire Council · 2 December 2025
Back to Cabinet — 2 December 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 2 December 2025 Cabinet Title: Proposed charging scheme for filming permits on Council land Purpose: To advise Cabinet of: • the current picture, both locally and nationally, regarding charges applied to granting filming permission on Council-owned land • the Council’s proposed approach to charging for future filming requests. Recommendation: Cabinet is asked to agree: 1. the proposed charging regime for filming permits on council land, subject to a 12-month monitoring period to ensure there are no negative impacts. 2. that the Head of Service (Democratic), in consultation with the Director of Place, can negotiate a location fee for large scale productions on Council land. 3. the continued provision of filming agreements, free of charge, for educational use, by children (under 18), non-commercial promotional events and news items. 4. that any income generated be reinvested in the promotion of North Ayrshire as a filming and visitor destination. 1. Executive Summary 1.1 North Ayrshire Council’s Corporate Communications team is the primary point of contact for anyone wishing to film on Council land. An increase in requests to film on Council land has placed greater demand on officer time across different services. 1.2 It is considered that as a means of reflecting some of the resourcing costs, a formalised charging scheme is proposed, with any income generated reinvested in the promotion of North Ayrshire as a filming and visitor destination.
Page 2
2. Background 2.1 In general, any application to film on Council land requires the filmmaker to apply for and receive a filming agreement. The Corporate Communications Team is the first point of contact and accepts and processes filming requests from a range of applicants – from single-person filmmakers to large-scale productions. The Communications Team liaises with relevant Council Services including the Council’s Legal and Estates teams and if appropriate, an agreement is drawn up which sets out terms and conditions which protects the Council’s reputation and property. 2.2 Historically, these applications were processed as business-as-usual duties and no charge was applied to the applicant. However, following the lifting of restrictions from the Covid lockdown, there has been a sustained increase in applications. This has implications for officer time not only in the Communications team, but also for colleagues in departments such as Legal, Roads and Estates. While many applications are straightforward, a number have required intensive work and negotiation. 2.3 While the Council welcomes positive increased exposure for North Ayrshire as a background for film productions, it is now considered appropriate to formalise a charging regime to reflect an element of the work and officer time involved. In line with the Council’s strategic ambition to maximise our assets, it is proposed that any income generated would be reinvested in the destination marketing of North Ayrshire. Pilot Period for Filming Charges 2.4 During 2024/25, the Communications team piloted a scheme to charge for processing filming agreements. The rates were nominally set at £100 for small-scale productions and £250 for larger scale productions. A number of filming agreements have been successfully processed, generating a small income for the Democratic Services’ budget. Introducing these charges did not reduce or negatively impact the number of filming agreements received and processed. 2.5 To help inform this work, a benchmarking exercise was undertaken to understand how other local authorities across Scotland deliver this service. The audit revealed that there was no standard national rate and the application of the charges varied from authority to authority. More than half of the authorities either charged no fee or negotiated the fee on a case-by-case basis. Only seven local authorities had an explicit charging regime, although these were calculated by different methods e.g. size of crew, size of budget, duration of filming activities. Filming Charges 2.6 As larger film productions take more time to process due to legal negotiation, checking locations before and after for any impact on Council property and the potential for temporary traffic restriction orders, etc, it is proposed that North Ayrshire Council introduces a sliding scale of costs for a filming agreement, based on the size of the production. 2.7 While currently, we grant permission to film via a ‘filming agreement’, we propose that the name be changed to a ‘filming permit’ as part of the formalisation of the process. In determining charging levels, it is important to strike a balance between reflecting officer
Page 3
time taken to process applications and ensuring North Ayrshire remains an attractive film location for production companies. The proposed charging scheme for a filming permit on North Ayrshire Council land would be: Crew of 1-4 - £100 Crew of 5-9 - £250 Crew of 10-14 - £500 Crew of 15 and over – from £750 The charging scheme would be subject to a 12-month monitoring period to ensure there are no negative impacts. 2.8 It is further proposed that large scale productions would be subject to a negotiated fee for hiring of the location. This fee would be agreed depending on the scale, location and duration of the production. This was the case when a film production company, hired out land within Eglinton Country Park for a period of three months to allow them to build a film set and then subsequently film scenes. 2.9 In addition, it is proposed that filming permits for educational use, by children (under 18), non-commercial promotional events and news items would remain free of charge. 2.10 Initial arrangements have been made with Finance to include the proposed charges into the charges and fees approved annually as part of the Council’s Revenue Budget and would therefore be subject to change as part of the budget-setting process. Enhanced Promotion of North Ayrshire 2.11 The Corporate Communications Team actively promotes North Ayrshire as an outstanding destination primarily using its ‘Love North Ayrshire’ social media accounts. The team creates engaging content focused on things to do, places to visit and events to attend, highlighting the best that North Ayrshire, and its islands, has to offer. 2.12 The team is also developing a promotional campaign to market North Ayrshire as an attractive and welcoming place for filmmakers, showcasing its outstanding natural beauty, rich culture and history and wealth of sporting and recreational opportunities. Initial discussions have been held with Screen Scotland and Visit Scotland in order to ensure they are aware of the facilities and locations on offer and can provide specialist advice and support in this area. 2.13 Using the small levels of income generated from filming permits would enhance these promotional activities, allowing the content to be pushed out to a wider and more diverse audience base, which, in turn, could increase awareness of our area and positively impact the number of visitors we attract to North Ayrshire. These actions would support the ambitions of the Council Plan and its strategy to maximise our assets. 3. Proposals 3.1 Cabinet is asked to agree:
Page 4
1. the proposed charging regime for filming permits on council land, subject to a 12-month monitoring period to ensure there are no negative impacts. 2. that the Head of Service (Democratic), in consultation with the Executive Director of Place, can negotiate a location fee for large scale productions on Council land. 3. the continued provision of filming agreements, free of charge, for educational use, by children (under 18), non-commercial promotional events and news items. 4. that any income generated be reinvested in the promotion of North Ayrshire as a filming and visitor destination. 4. Implications/Socio-economic Duty Financial 4.1 Any income generated through filming charges would be reinvested as a contribution towards destination marketing of North Ayrshire. Human Resources 4.2 None arising from this report. Legal 4.3 None arising from this report. Equality/Socio-economic 4.4 None arising from this report. Climate Change and Carbon 4.5 None arising from this report. Key Priorities 4.6 This paper supports the Council Plan Sustainable Council priority to maximise value from the use of our assets. Community Wealth Building 4.7 None arising from this report. Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) 4.8 None arising from this report. United Nations Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 4.9 None arising from this report.
Page 5
Consumer Duty 4.10 None arising from this report. 5. Consultation 5.1 A benchmarking exercise was undertaken across Scotland’s local authorities to understand the national picture in relation to filming charges. Aileen Craig Head of Democratic Services For further information please contact Michele McColm, Senior Manager, Communications on 01294 324139. Background Papers 0