February 2021

Short-Term Let Working Group

Posted on February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 by Fiona Campbell

The Scottish Government has published a new page for the Short-Term Let Working Group.

Short-Term Lets Stakeholder Working Group – gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

This states the membership of the group, the agenda and terms of reference considered at the first meeting.

They intend to publish future papers and all the notes of the meetings, once they have been agreed by the group.

UK Wide Self-Catering Survey: Feedback on Funding & Grant Support

Posted on February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 by Melanie Allen

The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, and the Professional Association of Self-Caterers and the Wales Tourism Alliance need your help to gather data about the Covid-19 Grant Schemes across the UK: have you received a grant in either 2020 or 2021, and if not, why not.

The results from your responses will provide us with important information, which we will use anonymously to inform the tourism industry and the UK, Scottish and Welsh Government about our sector and the ongoing issues associated with the eligibility criteria for self-catering grants during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This survey will help us to monitor how the grant schemes have been working and inform future discussion with regards to longer term support.

Please take just 5 minutes to complete the survey questions.

Thank you!

Take Part in the Survey Here

The Town and Country Planning (Short-term Let Control Areas) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 SSI Approved

Posted on February 24, 2021 by Fiona Campbell

At today’s Decision Time, and as expected, MSPs voted to approve the planning SSI on short-term let control zones by 107 votes to 8.

Prior to the vote, Andy Wightman MSP spoke against the SSI arguing that he fundamentally disagreed with the need for ministerial approval in terms of the creation of control zones. In his response, the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning Kevin Stewart explained the policy rationale behind control zones and how they would operate in practice. He believed it was necessary that ministers had a role through the approval process to ensure that the proposed control zone within a local council area was justified and followed correct procedures. The Minister added that the approval process would not be onerous and that the policy overall was supported by parties across the chamber.

Ministerial sign-off ensures that a Local Authority must conduct a consultation and evidence the need for a Planning Control Zone prior to implementation. This was specifically written into the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. The Short-Term Let Working Group will develop guidance on this.