Chamber and committees

A decision on the timing of a Bill will be taken by Cabinet in the context of setting the content of future legislative programmes in the normal way.

The Scottish Government and National Services Scotland are working to ensure that COVID-19 records, in terms of vaccinations show complete accuracy.

This will be assisted by the digital application to record the COVID-19 vaccine, which will be available from 1 October.

Any suspected errors in a person’s COVID-19 vaccination record should be reported to the vaccinations status helpline on 0808 196 8565. The helpline can only resolve issues in relation to vaccinations administered in Scotland.

The total number of deer shot on Scotland’s national forests and land in the last five years is as follows:

We fully support the pig sector in Scotland and understand the difficulties created by Covid-19 and the knock-on impact this has had on exports to China. The Scottish Government are running a £715k Pig Producers Hardship Support Scheme to support the sector by assisting the producers who supplied the abattoir between 8 February and 31 March. I recognise the strain that the loss of the export licence to China in particular has placed on the sector as a whole. While we are doing what we can to push for relisting, the decision to relist UK sites for exports is ultimately a decision for the Chinese government.

Draft guidance for local authorities on overprovision is set out in chapter 3 of the Licensing guidance part 2: supplementary guidance for licensing authorities, letting agencies and platforms . The guidance will be revised and updated working with stakeholders, once the legislation is finalised.

The Scottish Government supports the planting of the right tree in the right place. Forest and woodland strategies, including the Scottish Borders Woodland Strategy , set the regional framework for woodland expansion and are developed by the local authority in partnership with interested stakeholders. These strategies identify preferred areas where forestry can have a positive impact on the environment, landscape, economy and local people, and also identify sensitive areas where forestry may not be a suitable choice.

The Regional Strategic Woodland Creation Project is furthest developed in the South of Scotland. Here it is being developed as an evolution of the Scottish Borders Woodland Strategy . The ambition is to better define where the preferred areas for woodlands are, helping bridge the gap between strategic and site level considerations.

Regional Land Use Partnership (RLUP) pilots are being established this year, with Regional Land Use Frameworks (RLUF) being developed by 2023. The RLUPs will work within the existing context of their region, including identifying and working with key strategies and projects. The South of Scotland is one of the pilot regions. They are now beginning to engage with stakeholders on their regional approach, which will include engagement with forestry stakeholders as well as local communities, land managers and owners, experts and local and national government.

On 8 January 2020, Mr Stewart, the then Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, emphasised the importance of the safety of visitors, hosts, neighbours and local residents in his statement to the Scottish Parliament. This was the rationale for introducing the policy and that remains the case. It has also always been the intention to give local authorities further powers under the licensing scheme to tackle other issues arising from short-term lets.

Our licensing scheme proposals deliver national consistency on safety standards, and autonomy for local authorities to add further conditions in response to local needs and concerns.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03027 on 1 October 2021. 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 Scottish Government’s position is that the short-term let licensing legislation does not contradict the Provision of Services Regulations, the Human Rights Act 1998 (The First Protocol, Article 1), nor The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Article 17). The Scottish Government’s position is that the development of the legislation for the short-term lets licensing scheme is in line with the Better Regulation Agenda. The Scottish Government expects local authorities to adhere to the Scottish Regulators’ Strategic Code of Practice when developing their short-term lets licensing procedures and policies.

Before any government legislation is laid at the Scottish Parliament, government lawyers carry out robust analysis to ensure that it is competent. or the licensing legislation, that includes ensuring that the Licensing Order is made within the parameters and powers of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.

The Scottish Government is in the process of carefully reviewing the responses to the third public consultation on our proposals, which closed on 13 August 2021, with a view to making any further necessary revisions to the licensing legislation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03027 on 1 October 2021. 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