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-05485

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 28 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what specific consultation was carried out with local authorities prior to its announcement that, from 27 December 2021, nightclubs would be closed for three weeks, and on what date any consultation was first carried out.

Following engagement with sector bodies it was clear that many nightclubs would not be viable with distancing and table service restrictions in place. A decision was therefore taken by Ministers, using a four harms approach, that closure of nightclubs with appropriate support was the most effective option for controlling the virus and for the sector. This decision allowed nightclubs the flexibility to adjust operations and remain operating with relevant restrictions or close and receive extra financial support. Due to the pace of decision-making, it was not possible to engage with Local Authorities prior to the announcement however officials engaged with relevant teams after the announcement.

Question reference: S6W-05488

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 28 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05272 by Ben Macpherson on 23 December 2021, how many of these reports remain unresolved.

Question reference: S6W-05269

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many inspections of COVID-19 passports have taken place in each local authority area since they were introduced.

Since the scheme was introduced the total number of scans carried out by the verifier app in Scotland has been 309,168. The large majority of inspections consist of manual or visual checks, which are not included in this figure. It is not possible to break this down by local authority or venue as the Covid Check App does not retain any data. The scheme allows venues to carry out visual or checks using a verifier app. Venues with attendances of 1000 or more people are not required to carry out 100% checks. Our guidance was updated on 17 January to require those settings to check 50% or 1000 attendees whichever is higher.

Question reference: S6W-05406

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government to what extent it has explored prototypes for an online registration system, similar to the system paid for and presented to it by former members of its working group on short-term lets.

Question reference: S6O-00712

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to help increase the numbers of allotments and community garden spaces available in Edinburgh.

Question reference: S6W-05410

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated costs are of its proposed legislative process for regulating short-term lets, and how this compares with the previously proposed process that it did not pursue.

The costs associated with The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2021, which we withdrew in February 2021, are set out in the draft Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment published in December 2020.

The costs associated with The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 are set out in our updated Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment which we published in November 2021.

Question reference: S6W-05418

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on two reported independent economic impact assessments, which stated that, in Scotland, economic activity connected to short-term let and self-catering properties generated over £670 million in annual GVA prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and what data it has to support its position.

Question reference: S6W-05270

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it has provided to local authorities to cover the costs associated with the COVID-19 passport scheme.

The Scottish Government has not provided additional financial support to local authorities specifically relating to the Covid certification scheme.

We are working closely with Local Authorities, the Health and Safety Executive and Police Scotland to ensure that we are taking a joint approach on the enforcement of regulations and wider workplace health measures. We have committed to £2.9m in funding to support Covid related work carried out by Local Authority Environmental Health and Trading Standards Officers to year end 2021-22. We continue to engage with the Local Authorities to understand how this funding is being used to ensure they have the capacity to support businesses to comply with the regulations and guidance, including the Covid status certification requirements. Local authorities are responsible for prioritising enforcement work within their area, and they are doing so using a risk based and 4 Es approach (Engage, Explain, Encourage and Enforce).

We continue to engage with Local Authorities over this funding, and any potential extensions that may be required.

Question reference: S6W-05411

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many bed and breakfasts it estimates will close as a result of the implementation of new regulations for them and short-term lets.

The licensing scheme will introduce a system to ensure basic safety standards are being adhered to across short-term let accommodation in Scotland, the definition of which includes bed and breakfast businesses, as well as guest houses.

We have met with interested parties throughout development of the scheme, including meetings with the Scottish Guest House and B&B Alliance and Fergus Ewing MSP and one of his constituents, a local B&B owner. The Scottish Bed & Breakfast Association were also part of the Scottish Government’s short-term lets stakeholder working group until they resigned on 4 August 2021.

Many short-term let hosts and operators will already be following the mandatory safety conditions as a matter of compliance with existing law or best practice. We do not consider them to be onerous. We do not anticipate the scheme will have a detrimental impact on responsible operators. Instead we consider the scheme could boost overall demand for short-term lets by providing consumers with increased confidence in the functioning of the short-term lets market in Scotland, which will help to clamp down on dodgy operators, unsafe accommodation and poor practice.

Scotland’s ability to have sufficient accommodation options to host international events is accounted for, with licensing authorities having wide discretion in granting temporary exemptions or temporary licences within the powers of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and the Licensing Order. We will update and publish guidance on granting temporary exemptions and temporary licences, involving our stakeholder working group.

We have already committed to working with local authorities to undertake a review of short-term let activity in hotspot areas in summer 2023, to ensure the wider sector is still healthy and unintended consequences have been avoided, and to identify whether any further measures are required to control numbers.

Question reference: S6W-05419

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has received on the legal compatibility of its plans to introduce licensing for short-term lets with plans, under discussion by the European Commission, to introduce a registration system for short-term lets across the EU.

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

The licensing SSI also makes modifications to the 1982 Act itself, in order to give effect to the licensing scheme. This too was carefully considered in terms of whether the changes proposed were legally competent.

The tourist services – short-term rental initiative consulted on by the European Commission between September and October 2021 is still at an early stage and further details have not been confirmed. The consultation notes that the general proposal is for regulation, which would be in line with the approach we have set out in our legislation.