Visitor Levy (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: equality impact assessment

Executive summary

The Visitor Levy (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill will give councils flexibility to set a visitor levy using a fixed amount model as an alternative to the current percentage-based approach and seeks to further develop the framework established in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 (“the 2024 Act”).

This Equality Impact Assessment Result (EQIA) builds on the EQIA published alongside the 2024 Act and considers the potential impacts on people with protected characteristics. The Scottish Government has determined that the Visitor Levy (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill does not have any material impact on any of the protected characteristics, although there is the potential for limited impact on individuals travelling for medical treatment that should be mitigated at a local level by councils that choose to introduce a visitor levy scheme.

This EQIA should be considered alongside other impact assessments as well as the Policy Memorandum and Financial Memorandum.