Visitor levy spat sees Lib Dem Andrew Baxter tell SNP councillor to ‘go back to school’ over misinformation claims that the law compels its introduction when it does not
Lib Dem Councillor Andrew Baxter has told an unnamed SNP councillor that they “need to go back to school” before voting on the visitor levy after a litany of mistakes in an email to a constituent.
Cllr Baxter saw the response which showed the SNP member has misunderstood whether or not the levy must introduced or not.
The development is a blow to Highland Council which appears to struggle to convince many in the tourism sector that the decision is not already made following staunch resistance to the new fee.
First the SNP councillor claimed: “Councillors will not be voting on whether or not to apply the levy: it will become an Act of Parliament, and thus mandatory (in law).”
This is untrue - councillors will be voting on whether or not to introduce the levy. That is according to Highland Council’s assistant chief executive Malcolm Macleod who is in charge of consultation and developing the policy.
Mr Macleod said a decision would be taken by councillors in the spring, he was speaking at a Visit Inverness and Loch Ness tourism BID meeting just two weeks ago concerning the levy.
The council’s own website supports this view, stating the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 “gives local authorities discretionary powers to introduce a visitor levy”. In other words, it is an option not an obligation.
‘Administration councillors are slightly confused about the proposals’
Cllr Baxter pounced on the error, saying: “A constituent has passed on this response from an SNP councillor after they emailed about The Highland Council proposal to introduce a visitor levy. I've redacted the name of the councillor to spare their blushes.
“Although the council is busy with their public consultation, which may not give them the answers they wanted, it seems administration councillors are slightly confused about the proposals.
• will be asked whether the Highland Council should introduce a visitor levy.
• The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill is already law, becoming an Act of Parliament on 5th July 2024.
• The law is not mandatory; instead, each local authority will be able to decide if it wants to introduce a charge and what the level of the charge should be.
“The introduction of a visitor levy is a flagship policy for the current SNP-Independent administration at Highland Council. But it seems their own councillors have no idea what the policy is, what the law allows and what they are going to be asked to vote for.
“It looks as though some need to go back to school before they are given the opportunity to vote.”
What else did the SNP councillor claim?
The SNP member continued: “What we will be voting on are the modifications to make this levy fair in the Highlands.
“There will be exemptions, such as perhaps for those visiting or attending hospital, itinerant workforces, maybe even business travellers”.
That is accurate but it is not ALL councillors will be voting on, as outlined above. They do have the option to not introduce the levy amid a wave of objections from hospitality operators not about the levy itself but how it is a “tax on a tax”.
They added that councillors will be “very careful to scrutinise such changes to our taxation system and will be applying much conscience and empathy when making decisions” while stating a preference for a percentage charge not a flat rate.