The Scottish Government does not hold information of bus fleet numbers in each local authority.

All imports of Queen Honey Bees into GB must be notified through the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS) and Scottish Government officials monitor the system daily.

The Scottish Government bee health inspectors and bee health diagnostic team at SASA ensure that all imports of Queen Honey Bees are compliant with the post import requirements of returning the original cages and attendant bees within 5 days of arrival for testing for notifiable pests and diseases.

In addition to the import certification requirements, Scottish Government bee health inspectors carry out risk based post import checks.

Equivalent procedures are in place for exporting bees from Scotland. Export certification requirements are dependent on the country of destination and are currently certified by Scottish Bee Inspectors.

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 1,000 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 but, of those responses supplying a postcode, only around 14% of responses to the 2021 consultation supplied an EH postcode.

The Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution and External Affairs and I met with the then Minister for Immigration Compliance and the Courts on 16 June 2021 to discuss the New Plan for Immigration. This was prior to the introduction of the Nationality and Borders Bill at Westminster on 6 July. Scottish Government Ministers have had no subsequent discussions with UK Government Ministers on the Nationality and Borders Bill.

The First Minister wrote to the Home Secretary on 26 July, setting out significant concerns about the implications of the Nationality and Borders Bill, including measures which propose to differentiate between refugees and treat them differently based on their journey to the UK and not their protection need.

I wrote to the Home Secretary in further detail on 1 September. That letter is available on the Scottish Government website: Nationality and Borders Bill: letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government to Secretary of State for the Home Department - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

International trade represents a risk for the spread of pests and diseases of honey bees. To protect the health of bees in Scotland we have a framework of legal requirements and trade rules to minimise these risks.

Scottish Government works with the Animal and Plant Health Agency's (APHA) National Bee Unit (NBU) in providing guidance on their website Beebase - Beekeeping information resource for Beekeepers (nationalbeeunit.com) including a section on import and export requirements.

Specific guidance for export and import of honey bees following changes made after EU Exit is also available on the SG website: Importing bees into Scotland: guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) )

As part of the Honey Bee Health Strategy changes in policy are discussed with stakeholders in advance and highlighted to beekeepers through articles in the Scottish Beekeepers Association magazine and the Bee Farmers Association magazine, talks to local associations and Bee Health training days.

Our regulatory proposals will give local authorities powers to strike a balance between the needs and concerns of their local communities, with the wider economic and tourism benefits of short-term lets.

We published a draft Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) on 25 June 2021 for consultation. The economic and Scottish firms impact of the legislation is discussed at paragraphs 120 to 131 of the BRIA. We are now in the process of updating the BRIA as part of preparing the Licensing Order for laying in November 2021.

We have conducted an Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) which we published in December 2020 and will update to reflect the revised Licensing Order. The ICIA can be found in our December 2020 consultation report: Short-term lets – licensing scheme and planning control areas: consultation analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

I refer to the previous answer S6W-03362 on 22 October 2021 which details the guidance available on the Scottish Government and National Bee Unit websites, including changes in import conditions made since EU Exit:

• Importing bees into Scotland: guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) )
• Beebase - Beekeeping information resource for Beekeepers (nationalbeeunit.com)

Requirements include registration on the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS), notification of imports on the system, entry via an appropriate route (usually a border control point), provision of a health certificate and post import checks.

The legal framework surrounding international trade requires certification of freedom of notifiable diseases and pests. Imports from areas where certain diseases of pests are present is not allowed, for example areas of Italy affected by Small Hive Beetle (SHB).

Beekeepers also have a significant role to play by ensuring disease management within their own apiaries is in order, by being proactive in making themselves aware of the signs of diseases and sourcing bees that are healthy.

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

Local authorities have discretionary powers under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 to provide assistance to any home owners. Funding for this, and other housing activities, is included in the general capital and revenue grants provided to local authorities, and the allocation to assistance is at the discretion of the local authority.

We have provided £0.5 million additional funding for Care and Repair Scotland to provide help installing alarms for older and disabled homeowners on low incomes. We have also provided £1 million to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to provide alarms for owners who are considered most vulnerable to the risk of fire.

Paragraphs 13.30-13.35 of our 2020 islands communities impact assessment (ICIA) sets out details on licensing related costs. The ICIA notes that, although operators in island communities may face higher costs in implementing measures to comply with the basic safety standards required by the licensing scheme (compared to mainland operators), these basic standards are required under existing legislation or best practice. Therefore, these are costs that responsible operators will already be incurring.

In addition, further detail on licence fees and compliance costs has been set out in our consultation draft Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA), published on 25 June 2021, which can be found at: Short-term lets - licensing scheme and planning control area legislation: draft business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

We have heard evidence of noise and antisocial behaviour issues in rural and island areas relating to short-term lets through: correspondence, consultation responses and meetings with affected residents.

Party mansions have not been formally defined, but the term is commonly used to refer to a large house used to accommodate large numbers of guests, often for stag and hen parties.