Chamber and committees

Marine invasive non-native species (INNS) are reported to the Scottish Government by statutory organisations such as NatureScot and SEPA and regional partnership groups, to inform international reporting obligations for INNS monitoring.

It has always been our intention to develop these ambitious proposals in close collaboration with those impacted by them – in particular, people living and working in our island and coastal communities.

Prior to the consultation, we met with over 20 stakeholder groups representing a wide range of marine industries and users. We also ran ten online information sessions from February - April to help anyone wishing to provide a response to our consultation. These meetings included fisheries organisations such as the Communities Inshore Fisheries Alliance.

We continue to engage with communities and industry as we consider the many thousands of responses to our initial, broad consultation.

Local representatives of Scotland’s fishing industry are an important part of that.

Scotland is not alone in regulating short-term lets globally. We are doing this in two ways. The first, licensing, has been introduced to ensure short-term lets are safe and the people providing them are suitable. Guests can have confidence that licensed hosts and accommodation have reached a recognised standard of assurance complying with mandatory conditions for fire, gas, water and electrical safety. Many hosts are already complying with these through existing law or best practice, and we do not consider them onerous. Licensing authorities may also apply additional conditions to address local issues such as noise, antisocial behaviour and littering. Licence applications must be granted unless there are grounds to refuse them, for example, if anybody named on an application is not a fit and proper person. We are unable to comment on the specific short term let licensing policy in Edinburgh, due to ongoing legal proceedings.

The second, control areas, can be designated by councils where short-term lets are causing problems for neighbours and making it harder for people to find homes to live in. From the point of designation, the change of use to provide short-term lets in accommodation that is not a host’s only or principal home will always require planning permission. It is for councils to decide whether a control area is needed to help them manage high concentrations of short-term lets.

The Scottish Government supports the position set out in S6W-16710, which outlined the Scottish Government’s commitment to being guided by the democratically expressed wishes of the people of Scotland on these matters.

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

As referred to in the answers to S6F-02135 on 18 May 2023 and S6W-15158 on 13 March 2023, Scottish Water has now identified the priority locations for 1,000 spill monitors. Installation is programmed between summer 2023 and the end of 2024.

The answer to the oral parliamentary question is available on the Parliaments website, the Official Report can be viewed at: Meeting of the Parliament: 18/05/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website

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

The Short-Life Food Security and Supply Taskforce set out a number of short and long-term recommendations in its report and all of the immediate actions are either complete or substantially complete, including the establishment of a Food Security Unit, with other actions becoming legacy activity for it.

As the Food Security Unit becomes more established, the number of staff involved directly will vary depending on business needs. The Food Security Unit will work collaboratively with the wide range of teams across the Scottish Government that work on aspects of food security.

The Scottish Government will always be guided by the democratically expressed wishes of the people of Scotland on constitutional matters.

All wetlands considered for Ramsar designation since 2007 have been granted this classification. A decision on an extension to the existing Caithness & Sutherland Peatlands Ramsar site to include areas of former plantation forestry that have been restored to blanket bog will be made later this year.

I look forward to meeting with the CEO and speaking with the workforce of Ferguson Marine. My visit to the shipyard will take place during summer recess.

The following table provides annual figures for the total number of reports of suspected invasive non-native species (INNS) submitted via Scotland’s Environment website. The two reports in 2015 are test reports submitted by project partners; the system went live to the general public in 2016.

A small number of the following reports listed were not verified as INNS due to misidentification. Twenty of the more recent reports from 2023 are pending verification while further information is gathered.