 That concludes the debate on education failures and guaranteeing the 2022 exam diet. It's now time to move on to the next item of business, which is consideration of motion 2862, in the name of Claire Baker, on the appointment of a member of the Standards Commission for Scotland. I call on Claire Baker to move the motion on behalf of the Scottish parliamentary corporate body. I, along with Christine Grahame and Maggie Chapman, was a member of the corporate body appointment panel, and I am inviting MSPs this afternoon to agree the appointment of Suzanne Vestrie as a member of the Standards Commission for Scotland. As the chamber will know, the corporate body supports seven independent office holders, and one of our statutory duties relates to appointing with the agreement of the Parliament, some of the office holders. This appointment relates to the Standards Commission for Scotland. The Standards Commission is part of the ethical standards framework, and its role is to encourage high ethical standards in public life by promoting and enforcing the codes of conduct for councillors and members of devolved public bodies. The commission has a convener and four members, all of whom are part-time. I turn to our nominee, Suzanne Vestrie, as a self-employed consultant, providing a range of services to voluntary and public sector organisations, including organisational development advice, as well as designing and delivering a range of training. She is also a board member at the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration. We believe that Suzanne Vestrie will bring the post-professionalism, fairness and a strong commitment to ensuring high standards of conduct in public life are upheld, and I am sure that the Parliament will want to wish her every success in her new role. The question on this motion will be put at decision time. The next item of business is consideration of business motion 2851, in the name of George Adam, on behalf of the parliamentary bureau, setting out a business programme. I call on George Adam to move the motion. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and moved. Thank you. No member has asked to speak on the motion, and the question is that motion 2851 be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed. The next item of business is consideration of parliamentary bureau motions 2852 and 2853 on approval of SSIs. I ask George Adam on behalf of the parliamentary bureau to move the motions. Self-catering is an integral and hugely important part of the Scottish tourism sector in terms of jobs, revenues and the world-class experience that Scotland offers to visiting guests. The sector also generates some £867 million annually to the Scottish economy. Throughout the passage of the short-term legislation, significant concerns have been raised by the sector and those whose livelihoods depend on the income that they receive. Given the impact that the pandemic has had, we should be mindful of the unintended consequences and the potential negative impact that the new regulations will have on already fragile tourism businesses. SNP ministers clearly understood that when the licensing regulations were unfit and they removed them in February 2021, they largely remained unchanged. Having been tabled in January 2022, the industry, experts and members have been dismissed. Their concerns have been dismissed by ministers. There are real concerns, and I share them. I thank the member for giving way. Liberal Democrats support the introduction of control areas for problematic short-term hot spots, but we think that the licensing scheme is disproportionate, and we think that a registration scheme would be a far more sensible way to proceed. Does the member recognise that the concern does not just come from those benches and those benches, but also from the wise Mr Fergus Ewing, who has expressed concern recently in committee? Does he think that the ministers should pay attention to that concern and make changes? Miles Briggs. I thank the member for that intervention. I absolutely do. As the member has outlined, those concerns are shared across the sector, including the Association of Scotland Self-Caterers, the professional association of self-caterers UK, Scottish Agri-Tourism, Scotland's Best B&Bs and the Scottish Bed and Breakfast Association, as well as Scotland Land and Estates. What is concerning is that the views of this sector, as Willie Rennie has outlined, has not been taken on board and that a workable solution that has been put forward in the form of the registration scheme has been put to one side by SNP ministers. Indeed, the whole short-term let's sector is united in favouring a registration scheme. The sector has support also from the Federation of Small Business, NFU Scotland, as well as all short-term let's organisations. It is worth reflecting that several of those bodies were so angry against the Scottish Government that they felt the need to leave the short-term let's stakeholder working group because they felt that it was a sham in their words and that it was not addressing their concerns in any constructive way. As has already been mentioned by Willie Rennie, I also welcome the comments from my SNP colleague Fergus Ewing, who has discovered his independence on the back benches. When he said at committee, and I fully agree with this, the licensing scheme is too draconian and unfair. There will now be a period of division, difficulty and anxiety among tens of thousands of low-abiding small businesses that have done nothing to deserve the threat that is now held over them. I ask that the Parliament reject the licensing order at decision time. The legislation delivers on our commitment to effectively regulate short-term let's. We recognise the important role that short-term let's play as a source of flexible and responsive accommodation for tourists and workers, which bring many benefits to hosts, visitors and our economy. However, when the work started in 2018, it was in response to the significant concerns of residents and communities across Scotland—particularly in Miles Briggs area, I should add—about the impact that the increase in short-term let's were having on the areas, including on local housing supply, noise and antisocial behaviours. That was not just an urban or rural issue. That was shown in correspondence and then throughout our consultations where we have heard from residents across the country, from Ayr, to Apple Cross, to Troslux, to North Berwick and Sky, to St Andrew's. Constituents were regularly asking MSPs what action the Government was taking to address that, and whilst we were taking time to gather the evidence and hear the views of people and stakeholders to agree what form such action would take. I am pleased that we have responded to those concerns with the clear action that we are voting on tonight, Miles Briggs. I am grateful for the cabinet secretary for taking this intervention. I have been working on this at committee with other members. One of the clear asks—none of us is against the change here—was that the Scottish Government, given the impact of the pandemic, looked towards a registration scheme, not a licensing scheme. Can you outline to Parliament why that was so categorically rejected and why people have had to leave the Government's own working group? If Miles Briggs and the Tories are not against the change, presumably they will be voting for this at the sitting time. On the licensing against registration, we have discussed that on many occasions. We considered registration as part of the 2019 consultation, and we have also considered the proposals from the Association of Scotland's self-caterers made earlier last year. We do not believe that registration offers the same protections as licensing does to guest neighbours and local communities. To be robust and effective, essentially, a registration scheme would have to do many of the things that a licensing scheme would do. The fit and proper person issue is critical, which is going to be in the licensing scheme and which would not be in the registration scheme. The working group, which we are hoping and many of the stakeholders have said that it will continue to work with the Government on the detail, and I am pleased that many of them have said that. We have already introduced legislation allowing councils to establish short-term let control areas and manage numbers of short-term lets. The introduction of a licensing scheme will protect the safety of guests by ensuring that all short-term lets across Scotland comply with a set of mandatory safety standards and ensure that people providing them are suitable. That will ensure that short-term lets are safe while continuing to make a positive impact to local economies while balancing the needs of local communities. The licensing order, which was passed by the local government housing planning committee last month, gives local authorities autonomy to tailor the scheme to address particular local issues and needs. It will enable them to know what is happening in their area, be responsive and handle complaints effectively. We have engaged with stakeholders, we have listened, we have made changes and we are also committed to work with local authorities to review the levels of short-term lets in hotspot areas in the summer of 2023. I urge members to support the motion. The question on these motions will be put at decision time. The next item of business is consideration of parliamentary bureau motion 2854 on designation of lead committee, and I ask George Adam on behalf of the parliamentary bureau to move the motion. The motion will be put at decision time and there are 10 questions to be put as a result of today's business. If the amendment in the name of Tom Arthur is agreed to, the amendment in the name of Mark Griffin will fall. The first question is that amendment 2838.2 in the name of Tom Arthur seeks to amend motion 2838 in the name of Miles Briggs on protecting local government funding in Scotland be agreed. Are we all agreed? The Parliament is not agreed, therefore we will move to a vote and there will be a short suspension until our members to access the digital voting system.