Chamber and committees

You can understand that one person’s description of fully funded may be different from another’s. I find it difficult that the minister and First Minister can give a guarantee or a pledge that the council tax freeze will be fully funded without being able to say what a fully funded freeze would look like.

I want to touch on an issue that the Scottish Tourism Alliance has raised. It said that it would like the national parks to receive a share of the investment from the revenue raised. Councillor Macgregor, do you have any idea of how that could work in practice? The STA suggests that there are multiple local authorities in one national park, so how could that work?

Thank you. My second question is about a review. If the legislation is passed, what will be a measure of success? Do local authorities have any data about historical spend on the tourism offers versus what it might be after the introduction of a levy, and what should we be looking at in, say, 10 years’ time to measure whether the levy has been a success?

Good morning, minister. If the legislation passes through the parliamentary process and is implemented, what will be the key ways in which we should measure its impact? What should our successor committees be looking at in 10 years’ time to see whether the bill has had the desired effect?

When Opposition members such as myself ask questions or ask for additional budget, the first thing that ministers say is, “You need to identify where that funding is coming from.” What discussions have the minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Finance had with other cabinet colleagues to identify where the funding for the potential council tax freeze will come from?

Okay, thank you.

I am not asking you to put a figure on it. I am asking what your definition of a fully funded freeze will be? What does it mean for it to be fully funded?

The First Minister has also said that the commitment to fully fund the freeze means that councils would be able to maintain their services. Now, obviously, financial planning means that councils will have already been planning what level of council tax they might set, in advance of the announcement. If the funding falls short of that and councils have to either reduce services or make redundancies, what would be the Government’s response?

The committee is grappling with the simplicity and transparency of a flat rate versus the fairness of a percentage rate. I want to delve deeper into the concept of the percentage rate. If the percentage rate is applied purely to the accommodation provided and not to breakfast, spa and gym facilities, for example, is there potential for avoidance of the levy? For example, a hotel that offers those extra services could essentially minimise the accommodation price on a bill and inflate the other services, but still maintain parity on the price. Is that a mechanism for avoidance of the levy, or at least for minimising the levy, if we go down a percentage route? Does anyone have views on that?

Leon Thompson, you have also flagged concerns about how the levy would interact with online travel agents and third party booking sites. Do you have any more clarity or information to provide on how that will work in practice?