Short-term Lets Stakeholder Working Group: updated terms of reference

Membership

The following individuals and organisations are members of the working group which is published on the Scottish Government’s website:

Name	Organisation
Anita Stewart	Chair (Scottish Government)
Tony Cain	ALACHO (Local Authority Housing Officers)
James Foice	Association of Serviced Apartment Providers
Sarah Farnham/ Ryan Pearson	Booking.com
Chris McKie	City of Edinburgh Council
Alisa Raeburn	Community Land Scotland
Mike Callaghan	COSLA
Wayne Mackay	Electrical Safety First
Jean-Philippe Monod	Expedia
Barry McCulloch	Federation of Small Businesses
Jo Millar	Gilson Gray
David Littlejohn	Heads of Planning Scotland
Alastair McKie	Law Society of Scotland
Hazel Stevenson	Local Authority Environmental Health Officers
Kirsten Henderson	PLACE
Geoffrey Smith	Police Scotland
Gavin Percy	Quality in Tourism
Professor Russel Griggs	SG Regulatory Review Group
Chris Getty/ James Clark	Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
Simon Ovenden	Scottish Land & Estates
Marc Crothall	Scottish Tourism Alliance
(TBC)	SOLACE
Gary Munro & Kimberley Langley	SOLAR Scotland (Scottish Local Authority Lawyers and Administrators)
Leon Thompson	UK Hospitality
Patrick O’Shaughnessy	Visit Scotland

The following were members of the working group until they resigned at the meeting on 4 August 2022:

• Marie Lorimer, Airbnb
• Fiona Campbell, Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers
• Shomik Panda, UK Short-Term Accommodation Association
• David Weston, Scottish Bed & Breakfast Association

All members (including those who resigned in August last year) were invited to attend the 5th meeting on 2 February 2022 in order to provide input to revise the licensing guidance to reflect the Licensing Order approved by the Scottish Parliament in January 2022.

Terms of reference

The purpose of this working group is to assist the Scottish Government to finalise guidance on the short-term lets licensing scheme and planning control areas, ahead of implementation of licensing schemes from October 2022.

The Licensing Order has been approved by the Scottish Parliament and will come into force on 1 March 2022. It is outwith the group’s scope to debate whether to implement a licensing scheme. Challenges identified with implementation will be noted and followed up with relevant parties outwith meetings.

Finalising the 2022 guidance

The working group will provide valuable input to update draft guidance published in June 2021 to ensure it is helpful and easy to understand, and reflects the legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament on 19 January 2022.

Members of the group are invited to use their knowledge and experience to make suggestions about revisions to the scope, style and content of the guidance.

Conduct

The Scottish Government will chair and provide secretariat support to the working group. Scottish Government officials will make every effort to find appropriate solutions to issues identified by stakeholders. Ownership of the guidance documents rests with the Scottish Government and the final decisions on the guidance rest with Scottish Ministers.

Members are asked to make every effort to ensure they, or a substitute, attends working group meetings. We may also ask members to engage in the work of the group through correspondence, as circumstances dictate. 

Members are expected to work constructively with the group to find solutions and deliver products that are comprehensive and helpful for the end users.

Papers issued to the working group can be shared with others for the purposes of identifying issues and solutions and developing the guidance.  However, to facilitate open and effective communications at meetings, we ask members to treat the discussion itself in confidence and not to quote the views expressed by other members (or officials) without first seeking permission to do so. Expectations about engagement with officials is set out within the Scottish Government policy on unacceptable behaviour.

Every member of the working group is expected to treat others with dignity, respect and compassion. This includes being respectful in the way we communicate with colleagues, treating each other fairly, without discrimination and recognising the value of others’ contributions and opinions.

Members agree to listen to concerns raised without prejudice and agree not to act in a manner to damage the reputation of any individual or the working group as a whole.

Membership of the working group is without prejudice to members’ freedoms to express their sectors’ views and represent their interests in the media and other fora.