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All local authorities will consider and assess how much of their 2023-24 resource planning assumptions (RPAs) they target towards property acquisitions.

A proportion of land value uplift is already “captured” through national and local taxation. Additionally, existing planning mechanisms such as section 75 planning obligations can be used to secure contributions to, or provision of, infrastructure and affordable housing. Independent research published in July 2021 estimated that in 2019-20 alone, almost £0.5bn was agreed through planning obligations in Scotland – more than half of which was for affordable housing. The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 contains powers for an infrastructure levy which would provide local authorities with a new mechanism, alongside planning obligations, for seeking financial contributions from developers. The Scottish Government remains committed to implementing the levy during this Parliament.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20573 on 5 September 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20573 on 5 September 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Edinburgh festivals are an essential part of Scotland’s yearly calendar and we are confident that the powers granted to the City of Edinburgh Council, and all of the local authorities, to deliver short term let schemes are appropriate to reflect local circumstances, whilst guaranteeing a level of good quality standards that will bring assurance to guests and visitors staying in Scotland. As the policy is set and delivered by the council, no central assessment has been made on impact to the festivals. To date, no short term let licence applications have been refused in Edinburgh. Those hosts that have been operating since before October 2022 are eligible for transitional arrangements and, as long as they make a licence application before the deadline of 1 October 2023, can continue to accept bookings and receive guests after October 2023 until their application is determined.

Local authorities have powers to set their own licensing fees on a cost recovery basis. The Scottish Government does not hold information on how much has been raised from short-term let application fees in each local authority area.

The following table provides a breakdown of the licence application fee structures set by each local authority area.

The 2022-23 Local Government Finance Settlement included £351 million for the Council Tax Reduction Scheme. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, on the basis of local needs and priorities. The Scottish Government has not allocated any funding to the Water Charges Reduction Scheme (WCRS); this is because the scheme is funded by Scottish Water’s general household customer base. In 2022-23, Scottish Water reported that the value of the WCRS discount was £58 million.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02253 on 2 September 2021. The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of complaints of antisocial behaviour in short-term let properties, but Police Scotland continue to publish general recorded crime data by offence. This should be interpreted with some caution as it is drawn from a live operational database, and not produced as Official Statistics: Crime data - Police Scotland

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government works in conjunction with justice system agencies in monitoring the effectiveness of legislation on an on-going basis. There are no plans for a formal review of the criminal law on stalking at this time.

Scottish Government does not hold this information. Circularity Scotland Limited (CSL) was established as a private not-for-profit company by the drinks industry to meet its regulatory obligations. The Directors and Administrators of CSL have placed information on Companies House website about the Administration, which includes details of claims from creditors.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the delivery of a successful DRS in October 2025 and are pushing the UK Government to set out how this can be delivered across the UK. The onus is now on DEFRA to work with the devolved nations, industry and wider stakeholders to ensure this scheme is launched successfully and on time.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on the total number of kinship carers in each local authority area. We do, however, hold figures for the number of children who are looked after in kinship care and these are included in the Children’s Social Work Statistics for Scotland .