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Scotland is not alone in regulating short-term lets globally. We are doing this in two ways. The first, licensing, has been introduced to ensure short-term lets are safe and the people providing them are suitable. Guests can have confidence that licensed hosts and accommodation have reached a recognised standard of assurance complying with mandatory conditions for fire, gas, water and electrical safety. Many hosts are already complying with these through existing law or best practice, and we do not consider them onerous. Licensing authorities may also apply additional conditions to address local issues such as noise, antisocial behaviour and littering. Licence applications must be granted unless there are grounds to refuse them, for example, if anybody named on an application is not a fit and proper person. We are unable to comment on the specific short term let licensing policy in Edinburgh, due to ongoing legal proceedings.

The second, control areas, can be designated by councils where short-term lets are causing problems for neighbours and making it harder for people to find homes to live in. From the point of designation, the change of use to provide short-term lets in accommodation that is not a host’s only or principal home will always require planning permission. It is for councils to decide whether a control area is needed to help them manage high concentrations of short-term lets.

The Scottish Government supports the position set out in S6W-16710, which outlined the Scottish Government’s commitment to being guided by the democratically expressed wishes of the people of Scotland on these matters.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

As referred to in the answers to S6F-02135 on 18 May 2023 and S6W-15158 on 13 March 2023, Scottish Water has now identified the priority locations for 1,000 spill monitors. Installation is programmed between summer 2023 and the end of 2024.

The answer to the oral parliamentary question is available on the Parliaments website, the Official Report can be viewed at: Meeting of the Parliament: 18/05/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government will always be guided by the democratically expressed wishes of the people of Scotland on constitutional matters.

Marine invasive non-native species (INNS) are reported to the Scottish Government by statutory organisations such as NatureScot and SEPA and regional partnership groups, to inform international reporting obligations for INNS monitoring.

All wetlands considered for Ramsar designation since 2007 have been granted this classification. A decision on an extension to the existing Caithness & Sutherland Peatlands Ramsar site to include areas of former plantation forestry that have been restored to blanket bog will be made later this year.

The following table provides annual figures for the total number of reports of suspected invasive non-native species (INNS) submitted via Scotland’s Environment website. The two reports in 2015 are test reports submitted by project partners; the system went live to the general public in 2016.

A small number of the following reports listed were not verified as INNS due to misidentification. Twenty of the more recent reports from 2023 are pending verification while further information is gathered.

I look forward to meeting with the CEO and speaking with the workforce of Ferguson Marine. My visit to the shipyard will take place during summer recess.

The role of the Scottish Government, since the three approved schemes began operating in July 2012, is to monitor each scheme for compliance with the . This includes being satisfied that SDS and the other tenancy deposit schemes have clear and substantial processes in place that meet the requirements laid out in the regulations.

As part of this monitoring, the three schemes quarterly performance reports were analysed and measured against the key performance indicators to ensure these were adhered to. These include response times to customer enquiries and complaints, return of undisputed deposits and dispute resolution. The latest quarterly performance reports indicate all KPIs have been met.

The table below shows a percentage average, of instances in which performance is achieved, for each financial year for KPI 5 - Return of deposit following notification of dispute resolution decision.

The Scottish Government has noted the report of the independent review of the Victim Notification Scheme (VNS) as published on 12 May, including the recommendation that victims be automatically referred to a new Victim Contact Team (itself subject to a separate recommendation in the report) to be offered enrolment on the VNS, given information on the process, and their rights and entitlements.

As the report makes clear, a number of organisations have a role to play in delivering the current scheme (including the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Scottish Prison Service and the Parole Board for Scotland).

Therefore, the Scottish Government intends to consider the report’s recommendations (including the automatic referral recommendation) in collaboration with stakeholders in the current months to fully explore their implications. This approach is particularly important for recommendations that are likely to have a direct impact on victims. We intend to take forward these discussions in the coming months as a matter of priority, and to publish a formal response to the report in due course.