Meeting of the Parliament 19 February 2026 [Draft]
I thank the minister for confirming that, and I look forward to supporting that amendment at stage 2.
We need a visitor levy that works for local communities while allowing Scotland’s world-class tourism industry to thrive. On that basis, we will support the bill. However, we must be clear that councils have endured years of underfunding under this Government and that the visitor levy cannot and must not become a substitute for core funding for local authorities.
We will scrutinise the bill carefully to ensure that it delivers genuine flexibility for councils and certainty for tourism businesses. However, I must put on record our frustration at having to revisit this legislation in such a rushed manner because the Government failed to get it right first time. Holding a stage 1 debate a little more than a month before the end of the parliamentary session is not good governance. After 19 years in office, the Government should be capable of producing workable legislation and managing a coherent timetable. Instead, we are correcting avoidable mistakes at the 11th hour.
The committee’s work has highlighted the need for clarity, consistency and proper communication as the bill progresses. There is an opportunity to create a model that supports local priorities while sustaining a strong visitor economy. That will need genuine engagement, careful amendment and constructive dialogue with the sector in the weeks ahead.
Scotland deserves legislation that has been thought through and that is properly costed and competently delivered; it does not deserve legislation that needs fixing before it is even implemented.