Rachael Hamilton MSP has criticised the Scottish Government as they continue to plough on ahead with potentially damaging legislation imposing a licensing system on the short term let industry.
The Borders MSP has been inundated with emails and phone calls from self-catering businesses, who have serious concerns for their livelihoods and the implications for the future.
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the Scottish tourism industry, with many self-catering holiday businesses seeing their income totally dry up over the past year, with often little support from the Scottish Government.
The new regulations which, if passed, will come into force in April this year.
The Licensing Order was approved by the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government and Communities Committee on 3rd February 2021 by the slimmest of margins, with Scottish Conservative MSPs noting serious flaws in the SSIs.
A final vote on the regulations was postponed, and Mrs Hamilton believed this was an opportunity for Scottish Ministers to re-engage with the industry to find a more appropriate solution.
Rachael Hamilton MSP has called on the Scottish Government to withdraw the regulations before they are taken to a vote by MSPs in the coming weeks.
Rachael Hamilton MSP said:
“I have been very clear that these regulations must be withdrawn, as the licensing scheme is damaging for the self-catering sector.
“Many businesses have been badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with some being totally ineligible for funding.
“As we begin to look towards some sort of semblance of a summer holiday season with people holidaying at home, many in the industry are questioning if they are able to reopen because of financial constraints affecting their future viability.
“Proceeding with regulations that are not fit for purpose will make difficulties faced by self-catering businesses even worse.
“These regulations must be stopped and the SNP Government is doing nothing but adding insult to injury by proceeding with them”.