Short-Term Let Licensing Consultation Report Published

The Scottish Government’s STL Consultation report has gone live.

Briefing – STL consultation report analysis

3.10. The Scottish Government intends to lay both the Licensing Order and the Control Area Regulations in December 2020. They are expected to come into force on 1 April 2021. The Scottish Government intends to produce two guidance documents in spring 2021, one aimed at local authorities and the other for hosts and platforms.

“Perhaps the greatest number of comments centred on whether to proceed with regulation at this time or to delay it.

I am continuing to press ahead with these proposals now and the secondary legislation will be laid at the Scottish Parliament in December.” Kevin Stewart MSP

Read response from Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning

The ASSC has met with the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism, Fergus Ewing MSP, the Scottish Government Short-Term Let Delivery Group and the Tourism Directorate today.

A letter has been written to the First Minister: ASSC Letter to First Minister 10.12.20

Fiona Campbell, CEO of ASSC said:

“We are astonished that the Scottish Government will proceed with the regulations at a time when tourism has been devastated by the impact of Covid-19. The total financial impact of Covid-19 restrictions to the self-catering sector alone is £265m since September 2020 – and yet they deem it necessary to prioritise these regulations during a pandemic when other similar pieces of legislation have been postponed.”

“The Scottish Government has singularly failed to engage the concerns of industry, with the First Minister failing to respond to an 38-strong industry letter from October 2020 urging postponement despite a personal commitment to do so, as well as a follow-up letter, and they have also failed to publish a Business Regulatory Impact Assessment contrary to their own best practice. Furthermore, their own consultation response admits that the greatest number of comments were questioning the timing of this regulation.”

“Covid-19 has devastated one of Scotland’s key industries and if the Scottish Government wish to see it recover, they need to urgently change their priorities and work with us for a positive outcome for Scottish tourism, rather than compounding the difficulties already faced by businesses across the country.”

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