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-11190

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support communities that are currently without a local dentist surgery to obtain one.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving access to NHS dental services, which is why we have included several areas in the Scottish Dental Access Initiative grant (SDAI). This financial grant enables dentists to open a new or expand an existing dental practice in areas where there is a particular and protracted problem with patient access to NHS dental services.

The areas currently included in the grant are:

Dalmellington and Patna within NHS Ayrshire and Arran;
Kelso and Berwickshire (exc. Eyemouth) within NHS Borders;
NHS Dumfries and Galloway;
Auchtermuchty within NHS Fife;
Banff, Fraserburgh, Huntly and Moray within NHS Grampian;
Isle of Bute, Islay and Jura, Lochgilphead, Mull and Iona, and Tarbert within NHS Highland;
NHS Orkney;
NHS Shetland;
NHS Western Isles.

Officials are in regular contact with NHS Boards about areas which may benefit from having the SDAI and the areas can be updated as and when required.

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-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-11191

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the current dentist capacity is in the South Scotland region.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally, however each NHS Board will hold information on dental capacity for their respective areas.

We remain in a position of relative strength in terms of workforce numbers and capacity in Scotland, with 59 dentists per 100,000 of the population providing NHS dental services, compared with 43 per 100,000 in England. Dental registrations project a similar picture, with a record number of people registered with a NHS dentist, more than 95% of the population of Scotland.

Further information on dental statistics, including NHS dental registration numbers broken down by NHS Board, can be found on the Public Health Scotland (PHS) website, at: Dental Statistics (publichealthscotland.scot) .

Question reference: S6W-11485

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to introduce the Scottish National Party 2021 manifesto commitment for a Percentage for the Arts scheme.

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-11280

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the delivery of ferry services for island communities in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-11456

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 October 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is the case that the fee for obtaining a registration for a short-term lets licence will cost more depending on the number of occupants that could be accommodated, and, if it is the case, what is the reason for this.

Licence fees are set by licensing authorities to cover their costs in establishing and administering licence schemes in their areas. The Scottish Government has set out in guidance for licensing authorities the parameters that they may want to consider when setting licence fees to ensure fees are affordable for smaller accommodation units.

Larger accommodation units have the potential to generate significantly greater income than smaller units. Secondary letting will also typically yield greater income than home sharing (or home letting for limited periods).

Question reference: S6W-11455

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 October 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason planning permission is required for obtaining a short-term lets licence for flats, but not houses.

In a control area, change of use of a dwellinghouse, which is not a host's only or principal home, to provide short-term lets will always require planning permission. This applies to both houses and flats. In a control area, it is a mandatory condition of licence that planning permission has been obtained or an application is in progress.

Outwith a control area, planning permission may be required where local planning authorities determine a proposed change of use is material, on a case-by-case basis.

In all cases, each planning application will be determined on its individual planning merits in line with local development plan and policies unless there are material planning considerations that would justify a departure from the development plan.