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No. As I set out earlier, the licensing scheme gives the additional protections. It makes sure, or example, that the fit and proper person test is there. As the committee heard at its previous evidence session, there is a lot of support among local authorities for the scheme, which would allow them to use the additional powers that have been given to them, if they so wish. There would be no requirement on them beyond the core element of the licensing scheme, but I think that local authorities welcome the fact that they would have additional powers to deal with things such as noise, antisocial behaviour and littering, as appropriate to their areas. The licensing scheme does that in a way that I am not convinced a registration scheme would have done.

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to the two motions seeking approval for the instruments. With the committee’s permission, I intend to speak to both instruments together.

We are committed to ensuring that local authorities have appropriate regulatory powers to balance the needs and concerns of their communities with the wider economic and tourism benefits of short-term lets. We have consulted extensively to take this forward.

In 2019, we consulted on the broad principles of a regulatory framework, and that consultation showed broad support for some form of regulation. That formed the basis for the proposals to implement a licensing scheme and control areas, which were announced in January 2020. In September 2020, we launched a second consultation on detailed proposals for legislation, which was then laid in the Scottish Parliament in December 2020.

As the committee will be aware, the licensing order was withdrawn in February 2021, following concerns that were raised by some members and some tourism stakeholders. In response, we established a working group made up of a wide range of stakeholders to explore and resolve those concerns. The working group made helpful suggestions for changes to the legislation, which was reflected in the draft that we published for the third consultation in June. Further pragmatic and significant changes were made to the licensing order following careful consideration of the consultation responses that we received. The changes were set out in my letter to this committee in October and included the removal of overprovision powers and stronger guidance on fees.

I know that short-term lets bring many benefits to hosts, visitors and the Scottish economy. They are an important source of flexible and responsive accommodation for tourists and workers. However, they have also caused issues for local communities that need to be addressed.

At the heart of the licensing scheme are basic safety standards that will help to protect guests, hosts, neighbours and communities across Scotland. Many hosts will already be following those standards as a matter of compliance with existing law or best practice. We do not consider those standards to be onerous.

Where there are other problems such as noise, nuisance, littering, antisocial behaviour, the loss of residential housing stock and adverse impact on local communities, the licensing scheme, together with the control area legislation, will give local authorities the powers to address those problems. Issues arise in rural and urban areas across Scotland and we expect local authorities to use their powers to do no more or less than is necessary to tackle them.

I understand the impact that Covid-19 has had on the tourism sector, which is why this Government has supported the tourism and hospitality sector throughout the pandemic, not least through an extension of the 100 per cent non-domestic rates relief for all retail, leisure and hospitality premises for 2021-22. However, we need to put the legislation in place now, so that councils can get their licensing schemes ready. Many local residents and communities are keen to see progress on the issue and today provides the opportunity for us to make sure that that happens.

The control area regulations were laid in December 2020 and approved by the Scottish Parliament; they came into force on 1 April 2021. Control areas will help to manage high concentrations of secondary letting, where it affects the availability of residential housing or the character of a neighbourhood and they will help to restrict or prevent short-term lets in places or types of building where it is not considered appropriate. That will help local authorities to ensure that homes are used to best effect in their areas. The City of Edinburgh Council and Highland Council are both moving forward with proposals to designate control areas. The control area amendment regulations align the definition of short-term let for control area purposes with that in the licensing order.

We will continue to work with and listen to stakeholders. We will shortly reconvene the stakeholder working group to finalise the guidance on the licensing scheme and prepare for implementation. We will work with local authorities to review the levels of short-term let activity in hotspot areas in summer 2023. The review will identify whether any further measures are required to control numbers and check that we have avoided any unintended consequences.

I believe that our proposals take a robust but proportionate approach to the regulation of short-term lets and that they are right for Scottish circumstances. Therefore, I ask the committee to support the motions. I look forward to any questions that members may have.

There is no cut in the housing budget—the housing budget is going up. Edinburgh will be receiving more money through the affordable housing supply programme than it has in previous years. That surely should be welcomed by everybody across the chamber.

The statistics show that Scotland is the only area of the United Kingdom to see a marked reduction in the number of emergency food parcels, with a 25 per cent reduction between April and September compared with 2019. However, no one should have to rely on charitable food provision, and we are currently consulting on a national plan to end the need for food banks as a primary response.

The Government’s human rights approach means that we promote a cash-first response to hardship and, as we have seen in our budget, we are focused on boosting the incomes of low-income households, which is key to decreasing the need for food banks.

The empty homes option is a good one. A number of empty homes have been purchased and brought back into use following repairs. I do not have the figure to hand, but I am happy to write to Miles Briggs to make him aware of it. We can do more on empty homes. Of course, we fund empty homes officers so that local authorities can look at the opportunities in their areas to bring more empty homes back into circulation. I am happy to provide the figure to Miles Briggs in due course.

In all of those things, the role of community trusts is important, and so is the role of local authorities, of course.

Councils that serve rural and remote island communities can now provide to those in extreme fuel poverty grant in aid worth up to £14,000, which is up from the previous maximum of £9,000. Those councils can also apply for higher maxima of £8,000 of grant in aid for zero or low-carbon heating measures.

I will write to the member with more details in response to her question.

Our ambition is for everyone to have access to a safe, warm and affordable home. We provide support to fuel-poor households through our heat in buildings programme, and we are determined to address the higher levels of extreme fuel poverty that are found in many of Scotland’s remote and rural areas. By the end of 2021, we will have allocated more than £1 billion since 2009 to tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency. Since 2013, more than 150,000 homes throughout Scotland have benefited from our home energy efficiency programmes. We will continue to fund home energy Scotland to provide free and impartial advice on how to make homes warmer and cheaper to heat, and we will publish our fuel poverty strategy later this month.

I think that Siobhian Brown makes an important point. UK Government welfare cuts are driving hardship and pushing people to food banks. Its punitive approach takes money out of the pockets of those who can least afford it. That includes the deeply concerning cut to universal credit, which represented the biggest single cut to welfare in 70 years.

The Scottish Government’s doubling of the Scottish child payment to £20 from April 2022 is among the ways in which we have shown leadership that the UK Government simply has not shown. It is time that it matched our ambition in tackling child poverty.

Since 2007, we have delivered more than 105,000 affordable homes, including 2,343 in Perth and Kinross. As part of our commitment to deliver a further 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, last week’s budget confirmed an increase in the affordable housing programme of a further £174 million in 2022-23. Over the past five years, Perth and Kinross has received more than £77 million in grant support from the affordable housing supply programme, which has helped the delivery of 963 affordable homes. During this parliamentary session, Perth and Kinross will benefit from investment of more than £86 million, which will go towards the delivery of more good-quality, affordable homes.

Yes, I would agree with that. Scotland has led the way in the delivery of affordable housing across the United Kingdom. In 2009, we reintroduced grant funding for council house building, which has supported the delivery of more than 16,000 council homes across Scotland. By ending the right to buy, we have also protected existing social rented homes and prevented the sale of up to 15,500 houses over a 10-year period.