Meeting of the Parliament 26 June 2024
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this Scottish statutory instrument today. It is important, not only because it puts in place safety standards throughout Scotland, but because we have to recognise the contribution that this important sector makes to the tourism industry.
The short-term let licensing scheme delivers a set of basic safety standards to protect guests, hosts and communities and to guarantee high-quality accommodation across Scotland. It is those core principles around safety that underpin our approach throughout. When the Minister for Housing appeared at committee, he made it clear that the amendments in this order deliver on our commitment to make technical updates as a direct result of feedback from a range of stakeholders. He and I thank those stakeholders for the continued discussions that they are having with Government.
The minister has also made it clear that we are still in a transitional period, in which many thousands of operators have recently taken action to comply with legislation, and authorities are still processing applications for existing hosts. Although I understand that some groups in the sector are encouraging us to go further, any action must be taken forward in a measured way.
I see that Craig Hoy wants to come in; I am happy to give way to him.