Chamber and committees

I want to return to some of the questions that I asked about TSIs. I wonder what the panel’s view is on how they have operated, specifically in relation to the budgeting. Today we have the Scottish Government budget, but in your own areas have you seen TSIs come to the fore in how we have delivered support for the third sector during the pandemic? I will bring in Ian Bruce for a Glasgow perspective again.

Does anyone else want to come in on that?

One of the points that I want to return to is what Glenn Liddall said earlier about connect four. Looking to the future and the potential reform or improvement of TSIs, how do you think that we can achieve that? As you outlined, how we bring the four sectors together is important and, where there are examples of that, that is important. Could we look towards TSIs potentially helping to achieve that?

I want to get more information about what the witnesses think will be the benefits of a registration scheme as opposed to a licensing scheme, specifically to areas that have highlighted concerns to the committee about high concentrations of short-term lets. I know that Airbnb gave us some evidence about the blocking of reservation attempts from people under 25 years old looking to book entire homes. A few of the witnesses have talked about the need for data. Is that the key benefit that a registration scheme would provide or could the outcomes that the Government suggests are only achievable through licensing be achieved through a registration scheme? Perhaps Fiona Campbell could start on that.

Members of the panel have already touched on the impact of the proposed legislation on the sector. Will you outline the numbers that you expect to leave the sector if the legislation is agreed to? I am also interested in what has happened in other countries. A few people have touched on the scheme in Portugal.

That would be really helpful.

Where is the sector in recovering from the impact that it faces from the pandemic? I refer not only to the impact of restrictions but to the number of international tourists who are coming to Scotland. How would the sector adapt to the proposals, given the timescale? A few people have mentioned the fact that the Government has moved and tweaked some elements of the proposals, but how would the sector be able to meet the costs and cope with the complexity of the compliance that they would introduce?

Yes.

Will that have an impact on future forecasting? Off the top of my head, you are at 10 per cent operating costs to delivery, and the DWP is at 6.4 per cent. Do you see that cost increasing, as is currently laid out in the to-date costs?

Beyond that group, is any other assessment or review taking place? The issue has opened up an area where it is important that more work takes place to see whether the regulations might be changed to fit the real world that we live in. What additional work does the Government intend to do on the issue?

I want to ask a few questions about shared care. The regulations seem very clunky and do not take into account separated parents, for example, who might equally share care for their child or children. Have ministers looked at some solutions to that, such as a 50:50 split in the provision of that benefit?

Yes.