New tourist tax in Glasgow approved by councillors
The visitor levy due to be introduced on January, 25, 2027 will see people pay 5% of their accommodation bill for every night of their entire stay.
It is expected the fee could bring in about £16 million annually after costs and will apply to hotels, hostels, guest houses, B&Bs and self-catering accommodation.
Speaking at the city administration committee today, city treasurer Ricky Bell said he and leader Susan Aitken 'had been lobbying the Scottish Government for some time to give us more powers to be able to raise our own revenues and this is the start of what I hope will be a continuation of those powers being devolved to local government.'
It is proposed that hotel operators keep 1.5% of the amount collected to make up for any costs incurred. Organisations who don't comply would face penalties.
READ MORE: Councillor Ricky Bell: 'Visitor levy in Glasgow could grow city's tourism offer'
Councillors approved the visitor levy at the city administration committee this morning.
Cash generated would go towards the look and feel of the city with investment in infrastructure and the 'built and natural environment', as well as culture and events and marketing of the city as a destination to grow visitors.
A visitor levy forum is also to be set up to provide advice to the council relating to the scheme and it is proposed those involved in the visitor sector and representatives from communities would have a key role.
Employees are to be appointed at Glasgow City Council to handle the process and annual costs are estimated to be about £750,000 to £950,000 – with initial set up expected to be £400,000.
Scottish Green councillors moved an amendment at the committee relating to accommodation provider costs stating that they 'may only retain money under this rebate scheme for three years' and providing more details on penalties if they don't pay.
The amendment was rejected by Labour, the SNP and a Conservative councillor.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
24 minutes ago
- Reuters
UK public finances show 17.7 billion-pound deficit in May
LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - Britain's government borrowed 17.686 billion pounds ($23.84 billion) in May, official data showed on Friday. A Reuters poll of economists showed a median forecast of 17.1 billion pounds for public sector net borrowing. ($1 = 0.7447 pounds)
STV News
an hour ago
- STV News
SNP MSP Fergus Ewing to stand as independent in Scottish Parliament election
SNP MSP Fergus Ewing has announced he will stand as an independent candidate at next year's Holyrood election. Ewing has served as the constituency MSP for Inverness and Nairn since 1999 and is seeking election for the seventh time, ending over 50 years of association with the SNP. In a personal statement, the 67-year-old said it 'wasn't an easy decision', expressing concern about the SNP's direction and accusing the party of 'deserting many of the people whose causes we used to champion.' Ewing, who previously served as rural affairs secretary in government, also branded the power-sharing deal with the Greens a 'strategic blunder'. He cited delays to the dualling of the A9 from Perth to Inverness and A96 from Aberdeen to Inverness as a key factor in his decision to leave the party. Ewing's statement read: 'I have seen the Scottish Parliament at its best and its worst. I fear in recent years it has been at its worst. 'This has not been an easy decision. I have taken it because I love the people of Inverness and Nairn and the people of Scotland more than my party which I have been in for more than half a century. 'I believe the SNP has lost its way and that devolution itself – presently – is letting Scotland's people down. It doesn't need to be this way.' Ewing has previously disagreed with the party on several policy issues, including gender recognition reforms, the Deposit Return Scheme, and its level of support for the oil and gas sector. In 2023, he voted against Green minister Lorna Slater in a no-confidence motion, defying party whips and leading to his temporary suspension from the SNP group at Holyrood. Ewing described Holyrood as 'more fractious and tribal than ever before' and said 'too much power rests unchecked in the hands of party leaders'. He called for greater cooperation between Scotland's main political parties to tackle major challenges including economic instability, high energy costs, and public service reform. 'Ordinary people accept that they must work together in their own workplace – with everyone – whether they choose them as friends and allies or not,' his statement continued. 'It's time for politicians to do what the people customarily do – to work together for the interests of the nation. 'In short: It's time for Holyrood to grow up.' Ewing is the son of Winnie Ewing, whose victory in the 1967 Hamilton by-election marked a significant milestone for the SNP. He is the brother of Cowdenbeath MSP Annabelle Ewing. He was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999, when it was reconvened, and went on to serve as a minister for 14 years under both Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. SNP Leader John Swinney said: 'It was with real sadness and deep regret that I heard of Fergus Ewing's decision to leave the Scottish National Party. 'We have both served the SNP and the cause of independence for many years, and I commend him for all that he achieved while serving in the SNP Government until 2021. 'Fergus had the option of standing at the forthcoming election for the SNP, given his status as an approved candidate. He chose not to accept that opportunity and I regret that he has ultimately decided instead to leave the party. 'The SNP approaches the 2026 election ahead in the polls, with growing support for independence, and I am looking forward to taking our positive, ambitious vision for Scotland's future to the people.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
The Tories are becoming two parties in one. Which one will prevail?
But for the two parties of the right, there are more existential issues to keep in mind. The Tory party in Scotland finds itself in the hottest water it has encountered since devolution began. The party bumbled along for the first few terms of Parliament in the mid teens in vote share, translating to the high teens in seat numbers. As the anti-devolution party, they spent a fair bit of the first decade just trying to convince people they actually wanted to be there, with their first leader David McLetchie also making a good fist of putting into place some sort of liberal, free-market policy platform as an alternative to the social democratic consensus which was emerging. Read more by Andy Maciver The theoretical high-point of the party was when, under Annabel Goldie, it struck up an informal agreement to prop up the minority SNP administration of Alex Salmond. In reality, though, the SNP got what it wanted out of that arrangement for pocket change, and the Conservatives were unable to use those four years to derive any kind of sustained shift in sentiment. At its lowest ebb after the 2011 election, the party was saved, not by something to argue for but by something to argue against; independence. In the wake of the independence referendum, with the Labour Party in the grip of Jeremy Corbyn – who had indicated his agnosticism towards Scotland's future in the UK – and with the SNP having won a landslide victory in the 2015 General Election on a ticket of promising another independence referendum, the Tories scored the open goal with which they had been presented. In elections in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2021, with constitutional temperatures running hot, the core Tory vote in the teens was joined by a large number of unionists who held their noses and voted for the party they thought would stop another referendum. The trouble is, though, that the party's vote was built on sand. The Tories should, by now, have realised that they have been victims of their own success. The UK Government's belligerent "no, never" approach to granting a referendum led to the Scottish Government pursuing the case in the Supreme Court that led to the now-famous judicial decision that the Scottish Parliament cannot legislate for an independence referendum. With independence off the table, and the Tories heading out of office, those "transactional Tories" who backed the party for four elections over five years chewed them up and spat them out. Add to the mix the rise of the Reform party, and you have the story of why, at the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, Scotland's primary party of the centre-right polled six per cent of the vote. We should understand what that means. Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse sits within the Central Scotland electoral region. In 2021, with over 18 per cent of the vote, the Tories returned three MSPs. In the neighbouring Glasgow region, its 12 per cent gave them two MSPs, and next door in West Scotland (where the party's leader Russell Findlay has his seat) a 22 per cent vote share gave them another three seats. Through east, in the other urban region of Lothian, a 20 per cent vote share gave them another three. That's 11 MSPs across those four urban regions – around one-third of the party's total. An outcome more like the six per cent the party polled in the by-election puts every one of those seats at risk. In all probability, there are enough rural areas in West Scotland and in Lothian to keep them in the game, but only just. There is angst within the Tory MSP group that the party's strategy amounts to no more than hoping Reform will implode. In reality, though, it's about the best strategy available to them in the short term. Cross your fingers, folks. This is not true, though, in rural parts of the country. It is interesting to look back at that 2024 General Election, at where the party kept its seats. The Tories have retained a good amount of land mass, up north and down south, still popular in rural areas. The Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election changed the political ground in Scotland (Image: PA) There is an underlying story here, of two parties under one banner. There is the Tory party of the blue-collar, hacked off, law and order urbanite, driven by concerns over community issues from anti-social behaviour to potholes, with unsubtle views about the impact of immigrants and even more unsubtle views about the distribution of welfare to them, and a sensitive radar to woke issues. That is the party of Mr Findlay, for sure, but the trouble is it is also a mirror-image of Reform. If there is a distinction between Mr Findlay and defectors to Reform such as Glasgow councillor Thomas Kerr, then it is a distinction I am yet to spot upon hearing the two men speak. They are fishing from the same pool and, in the by-election and in national polling, it is Mr Kerr's party which is catching the bulk of the fish. Then there is the Tory party of rural Scotland; the entrepreneurs and small business owners, the free-market liberals concerned about the pernicious economic environment; the hard workers impinged by dismal infrastructure. Ironically, this is very much the party of Mr Findlay's Deputy, Rachael Hamilton. This party does fairly well, and in truth is more in tune with the needs of rural people and rural businesses than any other, including the SNP. We may find, in May next year, that the party's Holyrood map looks more like its Westminster one; strong to the north and to the south, but gutted in the middle. Maybe, as we inevitably move into a fractious parliament and perhaps to a future with more new entrants into Holyrood, and as Scotland's productive economy becomes more focussed on rural Scotland, it is this version of the Tory party which will prove its longevity. Andy Maciver is Founding Director of Message Matters, and co-host of the Holyrood Sources podcast
