Chamber and committees

(a) Stakeholder concerns in respect of the guidance are included in the minute of the third meeting of the Working group in May 2021: Short Term Lets Working Group papers and minutes: May 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . The draft guidance published on 25 June 2021 reflects many of the suggestions made at the Working Group meeting and in correspondence. The draft guidance will be considered further by the Working Group.

(b) The revised draft Licensing Order was published for consultation on 25 June 2021. Table 1 in the consultation paper sets out details of the changes that have been made to the Licensing Order.

As I advised Parliament on 26 May, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party committed to exploring opportunities for cooperation and joint working

I am pleased to advise Parliament that the Scottish Government has today published drafts of a joint cooperation agreement and a shared policy programme, Working together to build a greener, fairer, independent Scotland .

https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-and-scottish-green-party-cooperation-agreement

https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-and-scottish-green-party-shared-policy-programme

Together, these set out our plans for close cooperation and collaboration that will allow us to work together to deliver the bold policies and programmes we need for the challenges we face. We are also determined that this new approach will change the dynamic of our politics for the better and in line with the founding principles of our Parliament.

Short-term lets can offer people a flexible and cheaper travel option, and have contributed positively to Scotland’s tourism industry and local economies across the country. However, we know that in certain areas, particularly tourist hot spots, high numbers of lets can cause problems for neighbours and make it harder for people to find homes to live in. The Scottish Government considers regulation of short term lets to be vital in balancing the needs and concerns of residents and communities that have been raised with us, alongside wider economic and tourism interests.

The revised draft Licensing Order was published for consultation on 25 June 2021. Table 1 in the consultation paper sets out details of the changes that have been made to the Licensing Order.

Licensing of shooting ranges and gun clubs is a function of Police Scotland and is not part of the planning system.

Decisions on planning applications, including for shooting ranges, are primarily a matter for the relevant planning authority. Scottish planning policy sets out that planning decisions should be made at the most local level appropriate wherever possible. Where a planning authority were to refuse permission the applicant has the right of appeal which would be either to the Local Review Body or to Scottish Ministers.

Scottish Ministers have the power under current legislation to ‘call-in’ any application for their own determination. While Ministers exercise these powers sparingly, it is open to any individual to contact the Scottish Ministers to request call-in of any application prior to a decision being issued by the planning authority.

The Scottish Government has no plans at this time to review the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019.

Short-term lets can offer people a flexible and cheaper travel option, and have contributed positively to Scotland’s tourism industry and local economies across the country. However, we know that in certain areas, particularly tourist hot spots, high numbers of lets can cause problems for neighbours and make it harder for people to find homes to live in. The Scottish Government considers regulation of short term lets to be vital in balancing the needs and concerns of residents and communities, alongside wider economic and tourism interests.

The draft Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment published for consultation on 25 June 2021 estimates average, indicative fees in the range £223 and £377 for a three year licence. These estimates are based on full cost recovery.

The actual levels of fee are up to local authorities and are likely to include higher and lower tiers. The total revenue from fees must not exceed the costs of the scheme in each local authority.

Since 2014, there has been a 45% increase in household plastic waste recycling. Plastic recycling rose to 57,379 tonnes in 2019, which is the most recent data available, continuing the trend of increasing each year for the last eight years. While we don’t have a detailed breakdown of the impact, the measures outlined below will have made a positive contribution.

The Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 set requirements for the separate collection of key materials and prohibit separately collected material going to incineration or landfill.

In 2015, Scottish Government launched the Scottish Household Recycling Charter, supported by a Code of practice. This aims to bring more consistency to household recycling services, which deliver local and national benefits and encourage high levels of citizen participation in waste prevention, recycling and reuse.

The Scottish Material Brokerage Service was introduced in 2015 to deliver collaborative contracts for waste and recyclable materials from local authorities and other public bodies of sufficient scale to help local authorities and public bodies achieve a better deal, and reduce risk from price volatility. It supports the business conditions for investment in domestic reprocessing in Scotland by providing certainty in the volume and duration of supply of valuable materials.

Additionally, the statutory Code of Practice for Materials Recovery Facilities introduced a sampling procedure to improve transparency on material quality in the supply chain and to improve the quality of materials arriving for sorting.

Oil and gas workers returning from work overseas are not eligible for the exemption for offshore work on the UK continental shelf, and must comply with rules for international travel depending on the risk assessment of the country they have travelled from and their own residence and vaccination status. Travellers from green list countries and eligible fully vaccinated travellers from amber list countries are not required to isolate on arrival in Scotland. Other travellers from amber list countries must isolate at home or in their own accommodation. As the answer to question S6W-00963 set out, there is no exemption for offshore workers travelling from red list countries who must isolate in a designated managed isolation hotel. Therefore, offshore workers returning from work overseas will either not be required to isolate or will isolate at home unless they have travelled from a red list country.

Exemptions from managed isolation for essential activity related to supply chains, UK critical infrastructure and international obligations were considered prior to introduction of the policy on 15 February 2021 and have been reviewed regularly throughout. Quarantine arrangements for offshore workers are the same across the UK.

Prior to the national change in policy on international travel restrictions on 17 May, discussions on the scope of the exemption for offshore workers took place with sector bodies and delivery partners including Oil and Gas UK and the UK Border Force. This resulted in an amendment to regulations effective from 25 February 2021 to permit isolation at home for workers returning from offshore activity in the Exclusive Economic Zone of other countries in the North Sea. This provision was superseded by the introduction of the red, amber and green lists for risk assessment, as all arrivals from amber list countries were required to isolate at home.

No change to policy is being considered in relation to managed quarantine for oil and gas workers returning from work overseas, which applies only to arrivals from red list countries, and therefore no further engagement is planned on that question. Maintaining the highest level of protection for red list countries where variants of concern are known or assessed to be in community transmission is essential to guard against importation of variants of the virus with antibody resistance characteristics that could undermine progress made through vaccination programmes in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK.

The current published set of annual statistics on the number of Long Term Empty Properties and Second Homes, based on Council Tax Base data as at September 2020, were published in the Housing Statistics Quarterly Update in December 2020, and are available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-scotland-quarterly-update/ , with detailed local authority level Excel tables covering the period from 1996 to 2020 available at Housing statistics: Empty properties and second homes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The next set of annual statistics as at September 2021 are due to be published as part of the Housing Statistics Quarterly Update in December 2021. An exact publication date will be pre-announced no later than 4 weeks in advance, in line with the Statistics Code of Practice, on the Scottish Government website: Official statistics: Official statistics: forthcoming publications - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Local authorities are responsible for assessing the housing needs in their areas and setting out how this will be met in their Local Housing Strategies (LHS). LHS guidance published in September 2019 requires local authorities to include evidence of engagement with a wide range of people and communities of interest to inform the development of LHS priorities and outcomes. The guidance recognises the importance for housing services to be coordinated with health and social care in order to achieve joined-up, person-centred approaches.

The LHS guidance also requires each local authority to include a summary of its approach to tackling homelessness, including how its Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan (RRTP) links with LHS priorities and outcomes. The delivery of an RRTP is an important part of the implementation of the joint Scottish Government/COSLA Ending Homelessness Together Action Plan. This Plan also includes the upscaling of Housing First, a person-centred approach to providing settled accommodation to those with more complex needs.

The Scottish Government expects a local authority to reflect the identified need and priorities it has identified in its LHS through its Strategic Housing Investment Plan. In doing so, local authorities are required to work closely with communities to inform priorities.

The Scottish Government is working constructively and collaboratively with the Law Society of Scotland, the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association and representatives of several bar associations to co-design and deliver a wide range of measures in recognition of the important role in the Justice system of vital legal aid services in Scotland as we emerge and recover from the pandemic.

As well as delivering the first stage of an uplift to legal aid fees of more than 10% over the next two years, the Scottish Government is providing up to £1 million over the next 2 years to support 40 legal aid traineeship posts. The Legal Aid Traineeship fund will increase the capacity and capability of the legal aid profession in Scotland by providing employment and training opportunities. The funding also aims to increase diversity and equality within the legal profession by the recruitment and retention of trainees from under-represented groups across the legal profession including people with a disability, from minority ethnic communities or from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.