Chamber and committees

While the Scottish Government has not met or corresponded with UK Government on this question specifically, we meet and correspond with UKG regularly about funding in general. Over the course of the pandemic we have worked closely with the self-catering accommodation sector and Scottish Tourism Alliance on the recovery and support for the sector and we will continue to do so.

The Scottish Government recognises that the self-catering accommodation sector, alongside many other businesses across Scotland has been adversely affected by Covid-19. In addition to the regular Strategic Framework Business Fund which previously supported small accommodation providers, a range of tailored support to meet the needs of tourism businesses was developed. This included the Small Accommodation Providers Paying Council Tax Fund (SAP-CTF) which eligible Bed & Breakfasts, Guesthouses, small serviced accommodation providers and other self-catering businesses that paid council tax were able to access. Other targeted funds included the large self-catering grant and support for the B&B sector via a fund of up to £3 million to support those B&Bs with no business bank account. Equivalent tailored funds have not generally been available in England.

We will continue to engage in dialogue with the UK Government on issues of funding and to monitor the impacts of COVID on Scotland’s tourist industry.

As one of our 100 Days Commitments we launched the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB), which will develop new proposals for sustainable farming support by considering the Climate Change Plan Update and the Farmer-led Groups recommendations, helping Scottish agriculture become more economically and environmentally sustainable.

ARIOB meets regularly and its current priority is helping develop the National Test Programme, which begins this Spring and, over the next three years will deliver Scottish Government investment of up to £51 million. It is based on and informed by the work and recommendations of the Farmer-led Groups, particularly to ensure we are beginning to tackle the most urgent needs and creating a base upon which to build a whole-farm low carbon approach. An outline of the National Test Programme has already been published: https://www.gov.scot/news/ambitious-future-for-rural-scotland/

ARIOB acts in an advisory capacity to the Scottish Government and have no current plans to formally report. It is for the Scottish Government to co-develop and publish agricultural policy based on this type of a collaborative approach. The Scottish Government is wholly committed to supporting farmers and crofters to start our collective journey towards becoming global leaders in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

Forestry and Land Scotland have received no funding from the Scottish Government for their Starter Farm Programme. The funds allocated to the initiative by FLS have been generated by their Operational activities (i.e. management of Scotland’s national forests and land).

The FLS budget for FY 22/23 to maintain, repair and ensure compliance to meet statutory landlord obligations across its nine Starter Farms is £124,000.

The FLS Starter Farm programme was only established in FY 12/13 and therefore no funds were available prior to that year.

FLS made available £1,641,043 of capital to bring the Starter Farms up to a compliant and tenantable standard prior to letting.

The total cost of ongoing repair, maintenance and compliance (to meet statutory landlord obligations) between FY 13/14 – FY 21-22 was £661,858. That is broken down by financial year as follows:

The Scottish Government welcomed the recommendations of the Overton Report on Deepening Collaboration on Food and Drink in Scotland, including the recommended physical co-location of key personnel within food and drink industry leadership bodies and the public sector. These recommendations have informed how the Scotland Food and Drink Partnership has evolved over time and helped foster deeper collaboration and integration across the public and private sectors to achieve common goals. Scotland Food and Drink and Seafood Scotland are now co-located at Ratho Park.

While the impacts of COVID have created a demanding operating environment for businesses, home and hybrid working arrangements have also facilitated much closer working between the bodies that make up the Partnership and removed physical location as a barrier to collaboration.

The Scottish Government has no plans to revise its ambitious woodland creation targets as a result of Storm Arwen. Neither is there any plans to review species of trees to be planted as the range of species already being planted adds to Scotland’s rich, abundant and thriving landscape.

Our assessment is that the costs of bringing stores up to the required standard may range from a minimal amount for small improvements to major investment to improve a store which is not fit for purpose. Due to the individuality and scale of any potential works required at each site, an assessment of every store in Scotland would be needed to identify accurate costs of bringing slurry stores up to the required regulatory standard. To take account of these differences in scale of potential works, we have built in reasonable timescales by which storage facilities must be brought up to standard.

Stores built since 1991 are already required to meet a set of regulatory standards and would be expected to continue to be maintained in compliance with these standards. Those farming in Nitrate Vulnerable Zones already have a regulatory obligation to meet both post 1991 build standards and a 22 week minimum quantity requirement. The onus is on the operator to maintain these essential business assets to the required standard.

The Scottish Government published an updated Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) on 23 November. The BRIA sets out the baseline data currently available and trends, including information from the non-domestic rates valuation roll and about Airbnb, which show a significant growth in the number of properties which are being used for short-term lets.

The BRIA sets out the costs to local authorities and recovery through fees, and provides indicative average fees for a low and high cost scenario. The assumptions behind the average indicative fees for a short-term lets licence have been informed by discussions with local authorities.

The Licensing Order allows local authorities to raise revenue from fees to cover the costs of establishing and running their licensing scheme. The actual fees to be charged will be determined by local authorities following Scottish Government guidance and are likely to include higher and lower tiers, reflecting the varying sizes of premises to be licensed.

The licensing scheme will help to build a comprehensive picture of short-term let activity across Scotland.

The Scottish Government announced in January 2020 that it intended to establish a licensing scheme for short-term lets using powers under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and we have been engaging with local authorities on implementation of a licensing scheme since then. Local authorities have experience in licensing other activities under the 1982 Act and we made changes to our proposals in response to their views.

In setting timescales for establishing a licensing scheme, and for existing operators to have made an application, the Scottish Government has been mindful of striking a balance between giving local authorities and operators sufficient time to prepare, whilst moving quickly enough to address what remains a pressing issue for many residents and communities.

We will be working closely with local authorities, and other stakeholders on the working group, to review and update guidance and prepare for implementation.

The Scottish Government understands the impact that COVID-19 has had on the tourism sector which is why we have supported the tourism and hospitality sector through the pandemic, not least through an extension of 100% NDR relief for all retail leisure and hospitality premises for 2021-22.

Our proposals to licence short-term lets were developed in response to concerns raised by residents and communities across Scotland and members of all parties. It is right that we are taking action now to address these concerns. We do not consider our licensing scheme to be onerous.

We have committed to working with local authorities to review levels of short-term let activity in hotspot areas in summer 2023. This review will also seek to confirm that the wider sector is still healthy, making sure we have avoided unintended consequences.