Chamber and committees

Thank you.

I want to ask Eilidh Mactaggart about the direction of the Scottish National Investment Bank. One of its three missions is to achieve

“a Just Transition to net zero carbon emissions by 2045”

and to

“Invest in rebalancing our economy towards leadership in sustainable technology, services and industries.”

We have heard this morning that agriculture should be a key sector for investment, given the need for a just transition for farmers and innovative new technologies and practices. Is the SNIB—I do not know whether it is correct to call the bank that—currently supporting agricultural projects, or does it have plans to do so in the future?

Thank you very much for that response.

I have a final question, which I will direct first to Pat Snowdon; I would like Eilidh Mactaggart to come in afterwards. The committee will soon have the opportunity to scrutinise the budget bill and consider how it will impact on our rural sectors. What should we look out for on climate and nature in scrutinising the current draft budget and future budgets?

Thank you for that. I welcome Fergus Ewing to the committee.

Fiona Campbell, what are your thoughts on housing issues in rural and island areas?

We are hearing that there are housing challenges, so I would like to get your perspective on that in relation to rural areas.

The second item on our agenda is to take evidence as part of the committee’s work on short-term lets. This will be the first of three evidence sessions over the next three weeks. At today’s meeting, the committee will hear from organisations that are opposed to the approach that is being taken by the Scottish Government to regulation of short-term lets.

I welcome to the committee Fiona Campbell, who is the chief executive of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers; David Weston, who is the chair of the Scottish Bed and Breakfast Association; Amanda Cupples, who is Airbnb’s general manager for northern Europe; and Shomik Panda, who is director general of the Short Term Accommodation Association. Thank you for joining us today. We had hoped also to hear from Highland Council this morning, but unfortunately it was unable to field anyone.

We will move straight to questions. If witnesses wish to respond or contribute to the discussion, please indicate that by putting an R in the chat box. In the interests of time, we will try to direct our questions to specific witnesses. If you feel that a perspective that you want to put across has not been raised, it would be good if you would raise it.

I will ask the first question. Many tourism and hospitality businesses including taxis, pubs, restaurants and coach operators are subject to licensing regimes, for the benefit of users and communities. Can you explain why you think that short-term lets should be exempt from licensing? I would like to hear from Amanda Cupples then David Weston.

Thank you for that. We will hear from David Weston next.

Thank you, David. Fiona Campbell is next.

Thank you, Fiona. We will hear from Shomik Panda next.

Thank you, Fiona. I want to leave time for other questions, because we have quite a few questions to get through and I want to hear other perspectives.

Shomik Panda, do you have anything new or different to add to what Fiona has said about the source of the concerns? Do you have any evidence of significant business disruption being caused by licence renewal in other licensed industries or by licensing of short-term lets in other countries?