Meeting of the Parliament 19 March 2026 [Draft]
On Willie Rennie’s advice, I did not lodge hundreds of amendments to the bill, which I was going to do. I thought that I would be reasonable and lodge just three. I have lost on two of my very reasonable amendments, but I hope that I will not lose on amendment 33.
For, I think, the second time, the minister has said that we cannot go back and open up the 2024 act. However, as Murdo Fraser pointed out, we are opening it up, because of mistakes that the Government made originally. It is only fair to point out again that we are having this debate only because the Conservatives went to the Scottish National Party and said that we would work with it on the bill to help to fix the problems.
Amendment 33 is an easy one for the SNP to get behind. When the 2024 act first went through, there was a lot of concern in the Highlands and Islands from the business community. I commend three business owners—I had better not name them, because they have not given me permission to do so—who have worked tirelessly with me over the past few months to present practical ways that we can change the bill to help them.
One of those suggestions related to the fact that it is quite an administrative burden to collect the levy, fill in acres of paperwork and submit it to the authority. The easiest thing to do, with the technology that we have in this day and age, would be to have the visitor pay the levy directly to the local authority, perhaps through a platform. I am not asking for that to be changed right now, and I do not propose that in amendment 33. All that I am saying is that, as part of a review, the Government could consider whether that might be a feasible option in future.