Visitor Levy (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA)

Section 2: Engagement and information gathering

Engagement approach

The decision to introduce a new Bill to make changes to the 2024 Act was informed by engagement with local authorities, tourism businesses and organisations that represent tourism businesses. The Scottish Government has also drawn on findings from extensive consultation and engagement undertaken for the development of the 2024 Act.^[3]

Internal SG engagement / engagement with wider Public Sector

Internal SG engagement

Officials engaged with Tourism policy and Local Government Finance colleagues. Officials also considered the original 2023 BRIA which identified overlapping impacts to ensure consistency.

UK / Devolved Governments

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any specific engagement with the UK Government or devolved governments in developing the Bill. However, as above, the Scottish Government is aware of decisions by the Welsh Government and UK Government and will continue to engage to share insights and experience as required.

Wider Public Sector

The Scottish Government has engaged extensively with COSLA and individual local authorities to inform the development of the Bill, including through meetings of the Visitor Levy Implementation Forum which is co-chaired by COSLA and the Scottish Government. The provision of greater flexibility regarding the model of discretionary visitor levy scheme available will help to strengthen local democracy.

International

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any specific international engagement in developing the Bill. However, Scottish Government officials engaged with cities and municipalities in parts of Europe and internationally before developing the 2024 Act to understand how visitor levy schemes operate in practice in those areas.

Business / Third Sector engagement

The Scottish Government has engaged extensively with tourism businesses and business organisations to inform the development of the Bill. This includes meetings between the Minister for Public Finance and the Scottish Tourism Alliance. The decision to introduce new legislation has been welcomed by the Scottish Tourism Alliance for acting on feedback from business.

Public consultation

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any specific public consultation in developing the Bill. However, the decision to introduce new legislation was informed by evidence gathered in advance of the 2024 Act, including a public consultation that was open for 12 weeks and invited views on the principles for enabling local authorities to choose to apply a levy on visitors staying overnight.

Other stakeholders

There are no other relevant stakeholders that have been identified.