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My understanding is that they can take bookings only when the full licence is granted, but I might be wrong. Craig McGuffie can give you more information on that.

Again, there are a number of things to look at. I will come back to the specific Edinburgh issue. First, there is a broader discussion, which is perhaps not for this committee, about the size of Edinburgh and how much accommodation it can take. I suppose that that is a question for the City of Edinburgh Council to pick up.

The issues are not just for Edinburgh, although the Edinburgh festival highlights the point; other local authorities have events that require accommodation. We looked at the period of time and tried to find a balance. After speaking to the festival and fringe, and to local groups, we felt that the six weeks’ exemption was felt to be inflexible, in some ways, and too restrictive. Again, we wanted to try to provide flexibility, given the number of events. The festival itself goes on for around four weeks, and there are other events that are held in Edinburgh, such as Hogmanay and events as part of the Forever Edinburgh campaign.

In other parts of the country, it would depend on what events were being held. We were listening to feedback on that, and picking up on events that we were aware of, and some that we were not aware of. Again, it is up to each local authority to address the needs. We listened carefully to the festival and fringe, to the City of Edinburgh Council and to other stakeholders about what the picture can look like. We were trying to strike a balance to ensure that we can, if possible, accommodate the people who need to come in.

The key point is giving local authorities flexibility in that regard. That ensures that activity can take place throughout the year, and that we do not have to come back and deal with the issue every year.

To come back to the point about Edinburgh, we will pick up the key points around the festival and fringe, which I referred to, and ask the local authority and other stakeholders how they find the approach. In Edinburgh, that has to take place in the context of asking how big the festival and fringe should be, to accommodate what needs to happen. I know that the festival and fringe have been looking at trying to spread accommodation out, accommodating people not just in Edinburgh but in other parts of the Lothians. Again, we were very much listening to what stakeholders were saying, but it is an on-going process, so we will be looking for feedback not just on the issues in Edinburgh, but from stakeholders in other areas. We were listening to what stakeholders were telling us and were trying to strike a balance.

There are a number of points to make. As Jess Niven mentioned, Edinburgh has short-term let control areas. That is a planning issue. There is the licensing scheme, too. I know that Edinburgh has faced legal challenges and that it has amended its approach. Edinburgh’s approach was based on its interpretation of policy; it is not my job to tell the council how to interpret that.

That issue was specific to Edinburgh. However, I know that other areas are looking at adopting short-term let control areas. Consideration will be given to those interactions.

Some of the issues that have been raised have been particular to Edinburgh. That council felt that it needed to bring in short-term let control areas. That is a broader issue. It is not part of the licensing scheme. If a local authority decides to look at planning, that is about its interpretation of those aspects. It still comes back to local authorities acting within their own flexibilities in relation to the scheme, but some of the issues have been about the short-term let control areas. The Minister for Public Finance, Ivan McKee, who deals with planning, and I are meeting the ASSC again to pick up that point.

Planning law does not fall within the scope of the instrument. This is about how we interpret what the scheme is there for, which is for health and safety purposes. The broader issue has been discussed.

We have written to the ASSC on a couple of occasions to say that we do not agree with its interpretation of that, but we will continue to meet it. As I said, Ivan McKee and I have a meeting coming up with the organisation on that particular point. I know that that issue has been raised by other local authorities.

I do not know whether Jess Niven wants to come in on that. Actually, I will bring in Andy Kinnaird on that planning point.

A number of stakeholders would balance that view. For example, the STA welcomed the provisions and said that they are striking the right balance. There has to be a balance of opinions. I understand that the ASSC represents about 5 to 10 per cent of the sector. I have probably met Fiona Campbell more than I have met anybody else in past year or so, so I have listened. We do not always agree—Fiona and I would agree on that point—but there is a balance to be struck. The STA, which represents a number of short-term lets, has said that we struck the right balance, and it looks forward to continuing engagement. That is always going to be the case, whether it is ASSC or the STA.

The key thing will be the evidence on the impact that the amendment order will have on the tourism sector. We have seen an increase in short-term let accommodation and in visitor numbers for Scotland, which is encouraging.

Of course, we always listen to the ASSC, but we also listen to the STA and other stakeholders. There are different opinions on the issue, and that is why it is really important that we have an on-going dialogue. As I said, the STA welcomed the amendment order and thought that it was the right balance for the number of organisations that it represents. We have struck the right balance with the provisions that I have brought forward at this time, but I think that it is important that we continue to listen to the sector. I have done that all the way through, and I will continue to do it as we move ahead. It is the way I operate. Whether it be the cladding bill or the housing bill, I will be as collaborative as I possibly can be and listen to as many people as I possibly can.

There are different opinions within the sector, but that does not mean that any one opinion is more important than the others. They are all important, and that is why I will continue to engage with the committee and stakeholders as we move ahead, while making sure that what we are doing does not impact on the tourism figures that are coming through.

It is encouraging to see the number of visitors to Scotland in the past few quarters returning after Covid and in what is still a difficult time for tourism because of the on-going cost of living crisis. The tourism figures that are coming through are encouraging.

Fiona Campbell knows that I will continue to engage with her and the ASSC, as well as with the STA and other stakeholders, such as SOLAR, the industry advice group and the expert group that is being pulled together.

We are in discussions with SOLAR about that and feeding back to it on what is coming through. Emma Roddick is right that the issue has been raised by her local authority, but we are in discussions with SOLAR about how we could address that.

Can you be more specific? Having met the ASSC and others, I know that there are other things that they wanted us to include at this stage, but I do not know whether there is anything specific that you are referring to.

There are a number of things to say. When we brought the scheme in, it was partly to get an accurate number of how many short-term lets exist. The business and regulatory impact assessment indicated an estimated number. Figures on the number of short-term let applications in different parts of Scotland have been highlighted in the local press, and it is good for local authorities to have that information when deciding on their broader strategy. That is really important.

There will be an update to Parliament on the number of short-term let licences over the summer period, which will involve looking at what is coming through in each local authority area. The number of applications that came through was encouraging. It is important to remember that the BRIA estimate of around 32,000 applications was made in 2019, which was prior to Covid. Some of the figures that are coming through on the applications are encouraging to see. Statements were made that the system would reduce the number of short-term lets, but I do not think that that is the case, and when they all come through, the figures will demonstrate that.

On tourism, I have some figures in front of me. Average occupancy rates in B and Bs, guest houses and self-catering accommodation are up on the prior year, which is encouraging. There has not been any material drop in that regard. Tourism numbers in the past number of years have also been encouraging. We will continue to monitor that, but the initial figures that are coming through do not show a drop-off; they still show an increase in short-term lets and for B and Bs and guest houses.

In every meeting that we have with the ASSC and others, we have officials from the tourism sector there to feed in on anything that is coming through. We will also meet Airbnb and other providers to discuss what influence they think the legislation has had. They are not seeing anything at this stage, but I will meet them after the summer to sit down and discuss that with them. There is on-going dialogue with the stakeholders, including the providers, to make sure that there is no drop-off, but I have no real concerns at this stage about the update in relation to implementation over the summer.

Part of the challenge was finding out the actual numbers in the sector. We have been given the chance to look at the numbers, as well as the local authority numbers, in order to think about how we balance them and monitor the local authorities’ input.

Mr Griffin, perhaps we could write to the committee—if that is okay, Jess—when we have a more accurate date.

On that particular point, I note that there are a small number of cases—it is not wide ranging. There is on-going monitoring; I will bring in either Jess Niven or Craig McGuffie on that particular point. Again, they were more involved in the operational day-to-day discussions.

We have spoken to the ABI and UK Finance about that. I come back to Mark Griffin’s point. We have had discussions all the way through the process, and we will continue to do so. We had a quick chat yesterday to talk about that. I am happy to pick up that point, but we have had discussions with stakeholders about that.