Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Holiday let licence anxiety among staff
“In other words, I could lose the right to remain in this country once I am a qualified GP.”
Unless he is able to find a practice that offers visa sponsorship, his options to remain in Scotland as a GP will become extremely limited.
He added: “I’m given only a twoweek grace period after completion of training to find a practice that can sponsor me to remain in Scotland for at least another two years on my visa.
“Currently, there aren’t many practices which do this.
“There is already a significant number of international medical graduates in Scotland facing similar issues, so I will have to compete with them for visasponsoring practices.
“It’s a very real possibility I may have to leave Dundee, or even Scotland, to look for jobs.”
Blairgowrie GP and chairman of the BMA’s Scottish GP committee, Dr Andrew Buist, says Eric’s story is a huge concern.
“We know there are many others out there affected by this too,” he said.
“We’re desperately short of GPs as it is.
“The last thing we need is to be in a position where fully qualified clinicians are being left with no choice but to leave Scotland because of an issue with the terms and conditions of their visa.”
He says the BMA propose the Scottish Government creates fellowship posts for those trainees affected.
That would mean they could work as qualified GPs in Scotland while remaining employed and sponsored by NHS Education for Scotland (NES).
He added: “Any practice finding it hard to recruit a GP should consider applying to become a visa sponsor.
“This will ensure these muchneeded doctors are not forced to leave Scotland.
“A full-time GP trainee spends three years learning about the local healthcare service and the population.
“It would be a great loss to the community if the locally trained trainee had to leave – particularly in those already hard-to-recruit areas.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said visas are a matter for the Home Office, but it is continuing to press the UK Government on these issues.
The Scottish Government is also in dialogue with NES on potential for fellowship sponsorship.
IT IS feared staff at Perth and Kinross Council will not be able to cope with the number of licence applications for shortterm holiday lets following a change in the law.
New legislation means landlords must apply for licences to run tourist accommodation in residential properties, such as Airbnbs.
With high demand for holiday lets in Perth and Kinross, it is feared council officers will be unable to keep up with licence applications.
Councillors on the licensing committee discussed the Licensing of Short-term Lets Order 2022, which came into force in March, on Wednesday.
Councils have until October 1 to establish a licensing scheme and existing hosts will have until April next year to apply for a licence.
The new law means that anyone operating a short-term let has to apply for a licence and failing to do so will result in a punishment.
It defines a short-term let as “the use of residential accommodation provided by a host in the course of business to a guest where there is a charge made”.
But Councillor Chris Ahern said planning staff are “overworked”, even without the new licensing system.
The council’s environmental department has already asked to be removed from the list of consultees, saying they do not have the capacity to deal with the number of applications expected.
Other consultees mentioned in the report by Lisa Simpson, head of legal and governance services, include community councils, emergency services and business representatives.
The report was presented to the committee, and their questions answered, by licensing manager, Debra Gilkinson.
The council report says income made from licensing fees will be used to hire more staff but it did not give details on charges or how many employees this is expected to pay for.