Meeting of the Parliament 13 September 2023
I do not know who the minister is speaking to, because that is not the feedback that I am receiving. He said that local authorities have flexibility, but they do not have flexibility to take out the B and Bs, yurts or house swaps, or in relation to any of the other measures that we have talked about. There is no flexibility. It is a national and standardised programme that this Government has imposed on local authorities. He is wrong to say that local authorities have the power to do something different, because they simply do not.
We can contrast that—this is where I will give the Government credit—with the flexibility offered by control areas, which is sensible. If councils do not want to use the powers or wish to apply them only in a small part of their council area, they have the power to do exactly that. We support the use of the control areas to cap the number of short-term lets where numbers are already too high. I favour that action to control the numbers, because I am opposed to heavy-handed national control measures. That is necessary, and it is important to have something that is appropriate for every council area.
We need a package of measures that includes second homes. I am far from convinced that the measures that the Government has proposed in relation to council tax so far will provide sufficient deterrent for second homes. In parts of the east of Fife, the number of second homes is far greater than the number of short-term lets. We need a rounded policy.
However, to return to the central point of the motion, the licensing scheme is too heavy handed. As somebody who agrees with many of the arguments that the minister has put forward today—I agree with him on those measures—I plead with him, and I urge the Government, to pause, because I have a real fear of what he is going to do to the tourism industry. If he gets the balance wrong, we will see an economic hit that will damage our country. I think that the minister knows that that is exactly what is going to happen, so I urge him, even at this late stage, to pause, reflect and come up with something that is much more sensible and that empowers local councils to make the right decisions for their communities.
I move amendment S6M-10411.1, to insert at end:
“, and considers that this should re-examine the merits of a permissive approach, as opposed to a country-wide mandatory scheme, enabling local authorities to decide what the right policy and approach is for their areas.”
Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.