Meeting of the Parliament 24 March 2026 [Draft]
I appreciate that that has an impact on those who travel. However, I have faith that councils will take humane decisions. What we are doing today is devolving power. We are not taking a national approach; we are giving the job to councillors and entrusting them to run schemes that are in keeping with the needs of their authorities. It is about time that the Parliament did that more rather than less.
Throughout the passage of the bill, we have been guided by the principle that councils should be trusted to design schemes that meet their local needs. We should not consider councils to be just administrators of central Government policy; they are elected with their own mandates to design schemes that fit their communities. The improvements in this amending legislation will bring about such increased flexibility, which I support.
I also note that the improvements that the bill will introduce were discussed at stage 2 of the original legislation’s passage. Although it is right that the Government has now acted, we should reflect on how we arrived at the point of needing amending legislation so soon after the original act was agreed to.
It is important that we remain clear about the purpose of the bill, which is to make the visitor levy work better in practice. The levy must not be considered to be a substitute for proper, sustainable funding for local government. For the reasons that I have given, Scottish Labour members will support the bill this evening, but we will do so with the clear expectation that its implementation will be handled with the clarity, engagement and competence that businesses, visitors and communities across Scotland deserve.