Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill
The Bill aims to allow a visitor levy, a type of fee or tax, to be charged on overnight stays in some types of accommodation. Section 4 of the Bill explains what types of accommodation these could be. This means that a certain amount of money would be paid to the local authority every time someone stayed overnight in accommodation like a hotel, bed and breakfast or holiday cottage (unless it is the place where the person usually lives). Each local authority would be able to decide if it wanted to introduce a charge and what the level of the charge should be.
The Bill is at Stage 1
Contents
Stage 1 - General principles
Committees examine the Bill and gather views. They produce reports before MSPs debate the Bill in the Chamber. MSPs then decide on the purpose (“general principles”) of the Bill.
The Bill is at Stage 1
Committee Examination
The lead committee for this Bill is the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Submit your views
The Scottish Government has proposed a new law which would allow local authorities to introduce an additional charge when someone pays for overnight accommodation.
MSPs on the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee are looking at the details of the proposals, and want to know what people think about them.
Knowing your views will help them think about ways that could improve the proposed law, and whether the draft Bill should be passed into law by the whole Parliament.
The call for views closed on the 15 September 2023.
SPICe has produced a summary of written submissions.
You can read the summary of submissions. (512KB, pdf) posted 25 October 2023
Your Priorities
In addition to the Call for Views above the Committee also produced a digital consultation tool inviting people to share their views about the potential introduction of a visitor levy.
The call for views closed on the 15 September 2023.
The Parliament’s Participation and Communities Team has produced a summary of online forum submissions.
You can read the summary of submissions. (3MB, pdf) posted 26 October 2023
Engagement
The Parliament’s Participation and Communities Team also held five separate community meetings across Scotland with the support of community organisations.
You can read a summary of the meetings. (590KB, pdf) posted 21 November 2023
The Participation and Communities Team also organised a community meeting in Aviemore.
You can read a note of the meeting. (208KB, pdf) posted 26 October 2023
Timetable
The timetable that the committee followed while examining the Bill at Stage 1
Who spoke to the lead committee in the Parliament
MSPs met with people in committee meetings to discuss what the Bill will do.
Minutes of 20 June 2023
Minutes of 3 October 2023 (in private)
Minutes of 24 October 2023
Minutes of 31 October 2023
Minutes of 7 November 2023
Minutes of 14 November 2023
Meeting on 20 June 2023
Correspondence
Committee correspondence sent and received while the Bill progressed through Parliament
Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill 28 November
A letter from Councillor Day of the City of Edinburgh Council and Councillor Lobban of Highland Council, 28 November 2023
Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill letter 23 November 2023
A letter from the owner of the Argyll Hotel, 23 November 2023
Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill 27 October 2023
A letter from the Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance, 27 October 2023
Work by other committees
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Meeting on 19 September 2023
Meeting on 24 October 2023
Report published on 31 October 2023
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Committee report
The lead committee will publish its report before the stage 1 debate on the Bill.