Chamber and committees

The level of funding approved by Scottish Government through the Housing Infrastructure Fund for loan and grant between 2016-17 and 2020-21 is shown in the following table.

In developing proposals for the regulation of short-term lets we have engaged extensively with a range of stakeholders across Scotland, including short-term let hosts and operators and organisations representing their interests, through three public consultations, the Short-Term Lets Stakeholder Working Group and through other meetings with Ministers and officials. Across the three public consultations, we have received over 3,000 responses, of which over half were from hosts and operators, and considered over 1000 letters and e-mails from all types of stakeholders. We have engaged directly with self-caterers, B&B owners and Airbnb hosts. We do not have this data broken down by area.

The Scottish Government has undertaken a comprehensive awareness raising campaign across a range of channels including TV, radio and digital to ensure people are aware of the new legislation and to encourage compliance. This includes material to support third sector stakeholders and leaflets in public libraries. The target audience is all adults in Scotland and the campaign was forecast to reach 95.2% of those.

Because this is a safety measure, we hope most people will see the benefits of it. Local authorities have broad statutory responsibility for tackling substandard housing in their area, and for major defects they can require home owners to carry out work, but any intervention must be proportionate and we do not expect them to go beyond advising home owners about fire alarms. Legislation allows people a reasonable time for bringing homes up to standard. No home owner will be penalised for non-compliance. We will however collect data on fire alarms in Scottish homes in future iterations of the Scottish House Condition Survey.

The Scottish Government has no agreement in place with any preferred installers or providers of interlinked fire alarms.

The Scottish Government Code of Practice for the Welfare of Cats recommends that all cat owners should consider neutering and microchipping their pets as the best way of being reunited with them should they be separated.

The Scottish Government is aware of the Defra call for evidence and recent public consultation on the microchipping of cats. We will give full consideration to the results of this consultation and the details of any proposed legislation when they are available.

We remain willing to consider areas where consistent changes to legislation in all GB administrations will improve the welfare of kept animals.

As referenced in my response to S6W-03059 on 28 September 2021 Marine Scotland does not collect information from wrasse fishers on the number of individual landings by creek or aquaculture facility. The data that is collected by Marine Scotland is outlined in my previous answer.

I am unable to provide the level of detail you seek, as that may lead to individuals vessels being identified, but between 1 May and 9 October 2021, reports were received by Marine Scotland that the number of individual Wrasse landed totalled 365,826. Please note that these figures are provisional and may be subject to change.

You may be interested to know that once the season has ended and provisional figures have been finalised, Marine Scotland intend to report on data collected relating to Wrasse fishing over the course of this season.

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

This Government has made clear that whilst a cautious approach to removing or reducing mitigations will continue to be taken, we do not want mitigations to be in place in schools any longer than is necessary. Therefore, as confirmed on 19 October existing safety measures are to remain in schools for now, following advice from senior clinicians.

As has been the case throughout Scotland’s response to the pandemic, all decisions related to schools draw on expert advice, including that received from the Advisory sub-group on children’s issues , and consider the valuable feedback from partners and stakeholders, including the COVID-19 Education Recovery Group?(CERG) . There is no fixed threshold for decisions to either increase or decrease mitigations, but instead a range of indicators are monitored. All adjustments to mitigations in schools, and other education settings, are made after very careful consideration of all available advice and continue to be kept under regular review in light of emerging scientific evidence.

It is not possible to determine exactly how many owner occupied homes have alarms of the prescribed type installed as this information is not currently collected as part of the Scottish House Condition Survey.

We consider that, in principle, all houses could meet the standard by the date it comes into force. But, as with existing standards, it is possible that some owners will be unwilling to carry out work to substandard houses, and that others might need more time, for example, due to illness or because of the cost. The legislation allows some flexibility, as it says work should be carried out within such period as is reasonable in all the circumstances.

When the regulations on the new fire alarm standard have come into effect, we will collect more precise data because compliance with the tolerable standard is included in the Survey. This will allow us to monitor progress in bringing Scotland’s homes up to the new standard.

The Programme for Government 2020-21 commits the Scottish Government to consult on legislation to extend the new framework that came into force on 1 September for the licensing of animal welfare establishments, dog, cat and rabbit breeding and pet sales to performing animals and animal care services. This could include dog walking and grooming, as well as boarding services which are currently regulated under the Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963.

We plan to bring forward consultations in this area in due course after allowing a period of familiarisation with the recent licensing changes, so that the practical experiences of local authorities in implementing these can be considered in any future proposals.

(a) The regulation of short-term lets supports the following National Performance Framework objectives:

• We have a globally competitive, entrepreneurial, inclusive and sustainable economy.
• We have thriving and innovative businesses, with quality jobs and fair work for everyone.
• We tackle poverty by sharing opportunities, wealth and power more equally.
• We live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe.
• We value, enjoy, protect and enhance our environment.
• We are creative and our vibrant and diverse cultures are enjoyed widely

(b) Building a Wellbeing Economy is a top priority for the Scottish Government. This means building an economy that is inclusive and that promotes sustainability, prosperity and resilience, where businesses can thrive and innovate, and that supports all of our communities across Scotland to access opportunities that deliver local growth and wellbeing. Our proposals for regulating short-term lets balance the needs and concerns of local communities with wider economic and tourism interests; getting this balance right means that responsible and sustainable tourism businesses can thrive and local communities’ wellbeing is safeguarded.