Hansard

I thank the Parliament’s clerks for the support that they provided me with during the passage of the bill—albeit that my amendments have perhaps not met with as much success as I had hoped for, today—and the many organisations, businesses and councils that engaged with the Parliament and the committee as the bill made its way to stage 3.

On a positive note, I welcome the fact that the minister has accepted the arguments that I put forward at the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee on excluding children and young people from the levy, and I welcome the amendments that the Government lodged following my amendments at stage 2 on business involvement, the creation of the visitor levy forum and the future review of the impacts of the bill.

I also very much welcome the acceptance today of the amendments in the names of my colleagues Jeremy Balfour and Pam Gosal. I hope that the estimated 2,000 to 3,000 small businesses that have an annual turnover that is below the VAT threshold that the bill will have will be exempt. The issue has been of significant concern for small businesses, and I pay tribute to the work of the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland, the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, the Scottish Tourism Alliance and the Scottish B&B Association, as well as Scottish Land & Estates, for their constructive work towards the delivery of those amendments, which, I hope, will help to protect small businesses from the impacts of the bill.

Once again, though, legislation has been taken forward by ministers as a framework bill. As has been raised in respect of other bills, that presents a number of concerns, challenges and issues that relate to the variation that the implementation of the bill could ultimately produce across Scotland. I fear that ministers have not taken on board the warnings and lessons from the disastrous implementation of the short-term lets licensing legislation and the negative impact that that continues to have on small businesses—the fragmentation, inconsistency and, often, disproportionate costs.

Many accommodation businesses across Scotland feel that they have been under consistent bombardment from Scottish National Party and Green ministers, which has negatively impacted on their businesses and has involved the loss of many businesses in Scotland. Evidence from the Scottish B&B Association suggests that 67 per cent of its members say that the cost of the STL licensing has impacted on their business revenue and affected their viability as businesses.

I am concerned that ministers have failed to develop a robust exemption scheme in the bill. My amendments today would have helped to deliver that, and I think that we will look back and not be happy that those were not taken forward. I do not believe that the Parliament should have to hope that the Government will make statutory guidance and that all 32 councils—if they all decide to implement a visitor levy—will then implement a set of exemptions that will deliver.

For argument’s sake, if it is left to each council to decide on local exemptions, we could see a situation in which the parents of children who are receiving treatment at the sick kids hospital in Edinburgh would be forced to pay a visitor levy if they stay in a hotel, while families in Glasgow whose children are receiving treatment at the Queen Elizabeth hospital would not. That is not acceptable, and I do not think that anyone in the Parliament would tell their constituents that it is. However, we have failed to act by putting that exemption in the bill. I am disappointed by that. Members representing islands will know that the family and friends of patients from the islands often accompany them to hospital for treatment, and, under the bill, people who come from Orkney to support someone who is going into Aberdeen royal infirmary will pay a tourist tax to stay in accommodation in the city, which is wrong. I hope that the minister will pay attention to that and to what exemptions could still be created in the statutory guidance.

We should be proud of and celebrate our outstanding tourism sector in Scotland. The visitor offering that tourism businesses across Scotland provide is world class, and the importance to our local and national economy is significant and must never be underestimated or undervalued. Tourism is estimated to be worth £4.5 billion to the Scottish economy. It is critically important, and it directly supports more than 250,000 jobs across our country. Importantly, some of those jobs are in some of the most economically vulnerable rural and island communities.

We have heard that many businesses, in different parts of the country, still do not feel that they have recovered from the pandemic and that the levy will have another impact on them. The Scottish Conservatives have said that there needs to be more at the heart of the visitor levy to develop funds for the investment in and improvement of our tourism sector, rather than councils simply looking at it as a revenue stream. When the legislation comes into force, we will have to see whether councils are forced to look to it to fill voids in their funding. It is important that councils do not see the new power simply as a golden goose to make up for funding cuts that have come from the Scottish Government.

I also want to ensure that money is not raised and then taken away under funding formulas or cuts to culture budgets.