Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-11425

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10437 by Shona Robison on 21 September 2022, what is meant by “their duty to establish short-term let licensing schemes by 1 October 2022”, and whether this constitutes a statutory obligation on local authorities to have their scheme opened by 1 October 2022.

The effect of the provisions in The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 are that new hosts cannot operate without a licence after 1 October 2022. The effect of this is that it placed a statutory duty on local authorities to have licence schemes opened in their areas by 1 October.

As set out in my letter to local authorities, dated 21 September, I explained that while there are no penalties under legislation for local authorities that failed to meet this deadline, there is of course a risk that local authorities could be challenged by new hosts, or anybody acting on their behalf, if they are unable to submit an application for a licence due to their local authority’s scheme not being open.

Question reference: S6W-11426

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the opening of the short-term let licensing scheme on 1 October 2022, how many local authorities have not met this deadline for the scheme opening.

Question reference: S6W-11302

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-10436 and S6W-10437 by Shona Robison on 21 September 2022, and in light of Aberdeenshire Council’s short-term lets licensing consultation ending on 7 October 2022, after the deadline for establishing local schemes, what discussions have been held with Aberdeenshire Council regarding the timeline for implementation of such licensing; and what the repercussions are for any local authority that did not have its short-term lets licensing scheme established by 1 October 2022.

I wrote to all local authorities on 21 September reminding them of the importance of establishing licensing schemes in their area by 1 October. In that letter I explained that while there are no penalties under legislation for local authorities that failed to meet this deadline, there is of course a risk that local authorities could be challenged by new hosts, or anybody acting on their behalf, if they are unable to submit an application for a licence due to their local authority’s scheme not being open.

My officials spoke with Aberdeenshire Council on 26 September to understand the timeline for consideration of consultation responses and sign-off of its draft policy. These have been tabled for consideration by council sub-committees ahead of a full council meeting later this year. Prior to 1 October 2022, Aberdeenshire Council ensured its websites had information about its licensing scheme including its draft policy, a draft application form, and an email address to submit enquiries to.

Question reference: S6W-11301

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-10436 and S6W-10437 by Shona Robison on 21 September 2022, how many local authorities have indicated that they were not in a position to establish their short-term lets licensing scheme by 1 October 2022.

Since the answers to S6W-10436 and S6W-10437 on‎ 21 September 2022 were published, a small number of local authorities informed us that their elected members would not be able to meet to ratify their draft short-term let policies until after 1 October 2022. In these cases local authorities have ensured their websites have supported prospective applicants by having information about their licensing scheme including the draft policy, draft application forms, and an email address to submit enquiries to.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-11303

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-10436 and S6W-10437 by Shona Robison on 21 September 2022, and in light of the Report to Aberdeenshire Council’s Business Services’ Licensing Sub-Committee of 2 September 2022 under item six, paragraph 3.8.1, whether it can confirm that licensing officers from Aberdeenshire Council told the Scottish Government that it would not be possible to establish the short-term lets licensing scheme by 1 October 2022; and what its response is to the comment in the report regarding this deadline that “other Scottish Licensing Authorities are in the same position as Aberdeenshire Council”.

In the lead up to the commencement of short-term let licensing on 1 October 2022, we spoke to local authorities about their readiness to implement licensing schemes. This included regular group meetings and individual discussions.

A small number of local authorities informed us that their elected members would not meet to ratify their draft short-term let policies until after 1 October 2022. In these cases local authorities have ensured their websites have information about their licensing scheme including the draft policy, draft application forms, and an email address to submit enquiries to.

Question reference: S6W-11260

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 30 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the reported proposal from the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) to delay the introduction of short-term lets licensing in light of the current cost of living crisis.

Question reference: S6W-11522

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost has been of funding any private dental treatment for NHS patients due to a lack of available NHS services in (a) 2020, (b) 2021, and (c) 2022 to date, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-11523

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times NHS boards have funded private dental treatment for NHS patients due to a lack of available NHS services in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022 to date, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6O-01418

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve the resilience of island communities.

Question reference: S6W-10955

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the First Minister’s statement to the Parliament on the Programme for Government, on 6 September 2022, that a proposed Housing Bill would "implement key policies on short-term lets", whether this refers to enacted or new regulations on the matter.