Local authority leaders across Scotland have called on Holyrood to accelerate plans to empower them to charge visitors for overnight stays.
MSPs are expected today to back legislation that will enable councils to introduce a levy on tourists staying in hotels and other forms of accommodation.
However, as it stands there is an 18-month lead-in time required to take place after a consultation has taken place and the formal decision has been made for a council to introduce the levy.
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) criticised the long lead-in time as ‘disproportionate and excessive’.
‘After years of successive cuts to areas such as infrastructure, culture, and leisure, the services and facilities crucial to both our communities and local visitor economies require the additional revenue which would be re-invested from a Visitor Levy scheme now,’ read a statement from COSLA.
‘We call on MSPs to back the Stage 3 amendment supporting a reduction in the lead-in time, to ensure that our communities and visitor economies see crucial investment as soon as possible.’
