Meetings regarding short term lets in Scotland: FOI release

Information requested

How many meetings have Scottish Government civil servants had with representatives of local authorities (either officers or elected councillors) regarding the proposed regulation of short term lets in Scotland. I would like this query to cover the timeframe of July 2020 to 1 August 2021.  Also details of any meetings that fall under the above criteria, broken down by local authority.

Response

The answer to your question is Scottish Government officials have had 13 meetings with representatives from different local authorities details of which can be found below.

Details of meetings

1 September 2020 – Officials met with representatives from City of Edinburgh Council to discuss the licensing fee modelling.

23 September 2020* - Consultation Workshop with Heads of Planning Scotland (HoPS). Present at this meeting were representatives from the following local authorities: Aberdeen, Argyle & Bute, Dumfries & Galloway, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, Highland, North Ayrshire, Perth & Kinross, South Ayrshire, Stirling and the Western Isles.

28 September 2020* - Consultation Workshop with two representatives from COSLA.

30 September 2020* - Consultation Workshop with the Law Society of Scotland. Present at this meeting were representatives from the following local authorities:

•  Licensing Law sub-committee member, Perth & Kinross Council
•  Licensing, West Dunbartonshire Council
•  Planning Law sub-committee member, City of Edinburgh Council

1 October 2020* - Consultation Workshop with Councils: Environmental Health Officers. Present at this meeting were representatives from the following local authorities: Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, Highland, Inverclyde, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney, Perth & Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire and the Western Isles.

5 October 2020* - Consultation Workshop with Councils: Housing and Licensing Officers. Present at his meeting were representatives from the following local authorities: Dundee, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Highland, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian.

26 August 2020 – Officials met with representatives from HoPS to discuss the introduction of the short-term lets regulations.

11 November 2020 - Officials met with 3 representatives from Highland Council to discuss the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA).

12 November 2020** - Officials met with 3 representatives from City of Edinburgh Council to discuss the BRIA.

13 November 2020** - Officials met with a representative from Glasgow City Council to discuss the BRIA.

17 November 2020** - Officials met with 3 representatives from Argyll & Bute Council to discuss the BRIA.

17 November 2020** - Officials met with a representative from West Lothian Council to discuss the BRIA.

19 May 2021 – Officials met with a representative from Glasgow City Council to discuss control areas.

Local authorities are also represented on the short-term lets stakeholder working group. Information on the stakeholder working group, including papers and notes of meetings, can be found here: Short-Term Lets Stakeholder Working Group.

*The 2020 consultation workshop discussions focused on the short-term let licensing scheme and planning control areas. The consultation report (which includes the details of each of these meetings, including attendees) can be found here: Short-term lets – licensing scheme and planning control areas: consultation analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

**More on these meeting can be found in our draft BRIA: Short term lets - draft licensing order and business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA): consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

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