- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 September 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how it will monitor and review the COVID-19 vaccine certification scheme.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2021
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 2 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what monitoring it has undertaken of island economies following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 2 September 2021
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that (a) ministers, (b) officials and (c) its agencies (i) are fully aware of and (ii) follow its guidance regarding three- and one-day COVID-19 testing prior to visiting island communities, and under what circumstances this guidance might not be required to be followed.
Answer
The Scottish Government encourages anyone planning to visit a Scottish Island to test for coronavirus prior to travel, this includes any Ministers, staff or agency employees who are traveling to the islands. Scottish Government staff are not routinely travelling for work purposes and continue to work from home wherever possible.
Pre-departure testing for travel to the Scottish Islands is a voluntary scheme, however, everyone is encouraged to participate in order to reduce the risk of inadvertently carrying coronavirus into one of the island communities. Information on travel, including to the Scottish islands, is set out in the COVID-19 Framework for Decision Making – Scotland’s route map through and out of the crisis, which is available at www.gov.scot/coronavirus .
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 20 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what changes it has made in its revised short-term let licensing order in relation to tourist (a) bed and breakfast accommodation and (b) self-catering units.
Answer
Short-term lets can offer people a flexible and cheaper travel option, and have contributed positively to Scotland’s tourism industry and local economies across the country. However, we know that in certain areas, particularly tourist hot spots, high numbers of lets can cause problems for neighbours and make it harder for people to find homes to live in. The Scottish Government considers regulation of short term lets to be vital in balancing the needs and concerns of residents and communities that have been raised with us, alongside wider economic and tourism interests.
The revised draft Licensing Order was published for consultation on 25 June 2021. Table 1 in the consultation paper sets out details of the changes that have been made to the Licensing Order.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 17 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many guest houses it estimates there are in Scotland, and how many are licensed under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.
Answer
There are an estimated 1,460 guest houses on the valuation roll according to the most recently available Scottish Assessors data. This is likely to be an under-estimate however as it excludes properties on the council tax system. Information on the type of premises which hold an alcohol license is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it has made available to support larger self-catering units, accommodating seven or more people, that are unable to trade viably because of the COVID-19 household meeting restrictions.
Answer
As of 28 May, £3,028,000 has been paid through Exclusive Use and Large Self Catering Grants to 1,434 businesses. Please see the most recent business support management information: Coronavirus (COVID-19): business support management information - 11 June 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . While this figure does not currently allow breakdown of the exclusive use and large self-catering grants, the most recent figures from 30 April, when £2.89 million had been paid though Exclusive Use and Large Self Catering Grants showed that the majority of this sum had been allocated to large self-catering properties £2.69 million, while the remainder went to exclusive use properties £0.2 million). Please see - Coronavirus (COVID-19) Strategic Framework: Business Support Funding Statistics (Tranche 6) and other local authority support schemes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
We understand that household meeting restrictions to mitigate transmission risks continue to pose challenges for many businesses across Scotland. The Scottish Government sought to help businesses build greater resilience by making available Restart Grants. On 22 March recipients of support under the Strategic Framework Business Fund received a final 4 week payment, followed by a combined final payment of a further 2 weeks closure support and a one off restart grant. Hospitality and leisure businesses in receipt of the Fund were eligible for grants up to £19,500 based on their rateable value. The restart grant was also awarded to small accommodation providers paying the council tax fund, already registered for support payments under SPA-CTF.
In addition, the Scottish Government will provide 100% rates relief for retail, hospitality, leisure and aviation businesses for entirety of this financial year.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what impact the COVID-19 household meeting restrictions have had on the self-catering sector, and what engagement it has carried out with the sector regarding this.
Answer
We understand that a proportion of self-catering businesses, which are larger (7+) and rely on multiple households sharing continue to face challenges in trading due to household restrictions. We worked closely with the sector in order to produce tailored grant support for large self-catering businesses and exclusive use properties as well as targeted support for businesses who pay council tax via the small accommodation providers council tax fund. We have engaged regularly with the sector throughout the pandemic to understand operating conditions and to develop support to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions. We have regular dialogue with the STA, the ASSC and STERG and will continue to review areas that may need further support on an ongoing basis as we progress through the levels framework, in particular to those sectors which are subject to greater constraint.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has received in Barnett consequentials since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic from UK Government measures that have been introduced to support larger self-catering units, and how much of this funding it has allocated to similar measures in Scotland.
Answer
There is no specific allocation within consequentials arising from support for large self-catering though we have ensured that they have received financial support via the Strategic Framework Business Fund, and Business Restart Grants as well as a tailored package of support to help mitigate against the impact of the single household restrictions via the large self-catering and exclusive use support funds. This is in addition to the 100% Business Rates Relief that we have provided for all businesses in the Hospitality, Retail and Leisure Sectors for both the 20/21 and 21/22 Financial Years. We also ensured businesses not on the NDR roll were eligible for equivalent Strategic Framework Business Fund support via the small accommodation providers council tax fund (SAP-CT).
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the financial support available to larger self-catering units accommodating seven or more people.
Answer
We continually review the financial support that we provide to businesses to ensure that we direct funding to businesses impacted by COVID-19 while recognising that are simply unable to make up for all of the losses incurred by businesses. As part of this process we have provided additional funding to self-catering properties, alongside other accommodation providers in Glasgow and Moray impacted by the decision to retain Tier 3 Restrictions for an additional period in these areas. With no new consequentials made available by the UK Government with which to support businesses we are having to make difficult decisions about which businesses to prioritise for support, particularly those in areas which have experienced recent Covid-19 outbreaks and face continued closure. We will keep making the case to the UK Government for more funding to make additional financial support available to businesses that require further assistance and to transfer the fiscal levers required to enable us to respond fully to the needs of Scottish businesses.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cultural sector.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2021
