Chamber and committees

The committee has heard that the licensing scheme is being applied inconsistently across Scotland. I know that Highland Council and Glasgow City Council request proof of planning permission or a certificate of lawfulness as part of the licensing requirement rather than deferring to planning departments on a case-by-case basis. I understand that my local authority requires evidence of planning permission for planning control areas. Will Gary Somers and Gillian McNaught comment on the consistency of applying the legislation?

That is helpful. Thank you.

I turn to the impacts of other legislation. Parliament has just approved national planning framework 4. On short-term lets, policy 30(e)of NPF4 states that

“The loss of residential accommodation where such loss is not outweighed by demonstrable local economic benefits”

should not be permitted. What is your interpretation of NPF4 in terms of whether there is any overlap with short-term lets legislation?

That is no problem. Gary, do you want to add anything?

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. I am sorry for disturbing your holiday, Fiona. I was wondering where that painting behind you was from—the Highlands, perhaps.

I wish to ask you a couple of questions on some points that we have touched on already, and which I raised earlier, regarding the national planning framework and, specifically, guidance. We will consider legislation in the area, as well as how guidance filters down to councils and how it is interpreted. What is your current understanding of how policy 30(e) of NPF4 is being interpreted?

I put the question to Fiona Campbell first; Julia Amour may wish to add something.

Good morning to the panel, and thank you for joining us today.

I will start with a question on temporary exemptions. Rob Dickson, do you think that the system that governs temporary exemptions from the licensing regime for major events is working as expected? I believe that the City of Edinburgh Council wanted to create such a scheme for the festival. Where are we today with the legislation? How do you think it is working?

Thank you. We have already touched on planning permissions around existing homes and short-term lets outwith control areas. In your opinion, given where we are with the new regulations, is there a way of resolving the matter by tweaking the system that has been put in place to make the policy work?

I do not want us to focus only on Edinburgh, but I will, as an Edinburgh MSP. There is obviously a major events issue that the legislation has come up against, which is our festival. Are there ways of developing specific exemptions, such as the ones that you have submitted to the committee, to provide for that as well as for the health and safety element, which is what the Scottish Government originally said the legislation was about?

That is helpful. We have talked a few times about the additional resources that were provided because of Covid. Is there anything that you can contribute on lessons that have been learned in that regard, maybe about different service delivery models and whether they have been embedded? The third sector was utilised more during Covid. Has there been a long-term shift in that regard in the delivery of services, given the potential savings?

Is any more detail available on where public-private partnerships will go in the future, and potential changes? Some councils are looking at their payback terms and things like that. Has any of that been flagged up to you during your investigations?

I was interested in Paul McLennan’s questions on flexibilities that have been called for in the fiscal framework. How do witnesses see funding roles and agreements between local government and central Government around that changing to provide that flexibility? Kirsty Flanagan touched earlier on the fact that, although Government says that you have the right to decide your local priorities and the spend that will be allocated to them, it is clear that that is not the case in relation to policy commitments that you have to deliver.

Thanks. Robert, do you want to come in on that, as you are leading on it?