Tourist tax admin costs double in five months - to £1m a year
Tourist tax admin costs double in five months - to £1m a year
Plus: Festivals end with arts funding protests; fireworks ban; and the Big Beach Busk
Council’s fees double to £1m a year - as those for B&B owners are restricted
The estimated cost of setting up and running the Capital’s tourist tax has doubled in five months, the Inquirer can reveal.
The city council approved plans last week to introduce Scotland’s first Visitor Levy which will see overnight stays in Edinburgh taxed at 5%. The funds will be used to invest up to £50m a year in city services and infrastructure, including building new homes ‘for key workers’, and to support a sustainable tourism industry.
But the local authority is facing questions after almost doubling its estimated running costs to nearly £1m a year, and increasing its set-up budget by 260%.
At the same time, payments to B&Bs and other small businesses, who may have to upgrade their payment systems to collect and administer the levy, will be limited to 1.5% of the funds they collect, despite concerns that won’t cover their extra costs.
£1m a year? A report to the council’s policy and sustainability committee in March suggested it would cost £250,000 to set up and £500,000 a year to run. That has now risen to £650,000 set up costs and £970,000 a year to operate. The council puts the increase down to having a clearer understanding of the full costs involved now that visitor levy legislation has been passed.
What will it be spent on? The council says the money is needed for a visitor levy team, including project managers, and transactions and enforcement officers, as well as finance and communications support, legal fees, data gathering and analysis, and development and ongoing running costs of a national online payment platform.
What about B&Bs? Councillor Joanna Mowat, of the Conservatives, said the small businesses affected should be allowed to keep 2.5% of the funds they collect to cover their full costs. “The proposal is that businesses will only be allowed to retain 1.5% of their take for administration costs which won’t cover their additional burden in many case. Should the administration costs for the council be accepted it will be necessary to carefully scrutinise these to ensure it only spent on necessary administration.”
House building: The council also intends to invest £5m a year in building now homes which would allow it to borrow £70m to kickstart housing schemes on land it owns in Granton or Meadowbank. This is likely to be mainly ‘mid-market’ housing rather than homes for social rent. The local authority says this will help ‘key workers’ in the tourism industry who currently struggle to find affordable housing in the city. It is unclear whether there would be any restriction on who buys or rents these properties.
YOUR EDINBURGH BRIEFING
FESTIVAL FUNDING PROTESTS: The Festivals draw to a close today amid protests against Scottish Government real-term funding cuts which have led the national arts agency Creative Scotland to close major grant schemes for artists. Audiences at the Traverse and Church Hill Theatres and Summerhall were warned of the “crushing impact” of the move on freelance performers, many of whom “may not be able to return next year”.
DIGITAL MUSEUM FOR LEITH: Leith Custom House would be turned into Scotland’s first fully digital museum under concept plans for the A listed Georgian building announced by the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust. Video walls, listening booths, screens and projectors would be used to celebrate local heritage and sustainable culture. The development vision includes opening Custom Lane as a food and drink destination linking the Shore with Dock Place and Victoria Quay.
FIREWORKS BANS: Setting off fireworks will be illegal other than in organised displays in four areas of the Capital - Niddrie, Seafield, Balerno and Calton Hill - from 1-10 November, as part of plans aimed at avoiding a repeat of trouble around Bonfire Night last year. Fireworks and petrol bombs were thrown at police officers and firefighters in a stand-off in Niddrie which led to the arrests of 26 people. Councillors decided against a city wide ban after police said they would struggle to enforce it.
BOWLING GREEN CUTS: East Lothian Council will stop maintaining greens at ten bowling clubs, from Port Seton and Prestongrange to Fisherrow and Whitecraigs, from next April. Clubs will have to carry out the work themselves, due to the impact of funding cuts on the local authority, the East Lothian Courier reports.
PEACE GARDEN: A community garden aimed at bringing together people from different backgrounds has opened at Bridgend Farmhouse, off Old Dalkeith Road, in the wake of far-right protests in other parts of the UK. The Peace Garden was established by volunteers and regularly welcomes visitors of various nationalities including Polish, Ukrainian, Syrian and Sudanese families.
POLICE STATION SALE: The historic police station on the High Street in Portobello is to be sold off despite concerns raised by residents that the neighbourhood will be less safe as a result. Police Scotland point out that the station has not housed operational officers since 2016 and has been underused while the Victorian building carries significant running and repair costs.
HISTORIC PUB HOPE: Clark’s Bar on Dundas Street looks set to reopen as a pub after the current operators moved out at the weekend, announcing the end of its 125-year history. Owners Caledonian Heritable say they hope to appoint a new tenant after a short closure.
SCHOOL SALE: St George’s School is selling off its Landowne House campus in Murrayfield for housing development as it brings all its activities onto its main site from next year. The C listed Victorian mansion house and just over two acres of land is being offered for sale by Savills.
EASY SUNSHINE: EasyJet is launching a new route between Edinburgh and Gran Canaria, which is set to begin on 7 December and which will operate once a week, with flights every Saturday.
MOTHER OF PEARL: A famous Scottish freshwater pearl, the largest found in living memory, has been sold in Edinburgh by auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull for almost £94,000 - a world record price for this type of pearl. It had been estimated at between £40,000 and £60,000. The Abernethy Pearl, discovered in 1967, is around the size of a marble.
MUTT-ERLY FANTASTIC: International Dog Day today gives us an opportunity to feature our canine team member here at Inquirer Towers. Pepper, now a splendid 13, was a rescue and as part American Staffie, part German Shepherd, part Labrador, with a bit of Border Collie and Greyhound (she’s been DNA tested) she certainly qualifies as international. Today also lets us give another shout out to the continuing great work done by many canine charities, not least our own magnificent Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home "Tidal wave of sadness" for dog-owners struggling with living costs (edinburghinquirer.co.uk)
THE BUSINESS
Scottish employees would benefit from more workplace support
A new survey of more than 100 HR and business leaders in Scotland has exposed that many more employees could benefit from workplace health and mental health benefits.
Record high NHS waiting lists, worsening mental health, and an ageing population means that more workers are seeking health benefits as an important part of any remuneration package.
Yet according to the survey by Howden Employee Benefits, only one in five companies in Scotland offers Private Medical Insurance, and only one in four offers “sufficient mental health support.”
Saba Haran, Employee Benefits Director Scotland, commented: "With ongoing pressures on the NHS and a national cost of living crisis, prioritising employee health and wellbeing has never been more important. Employers need to adopt a strategic and employee-centric approach to their benefits provision and review their existing benefits to they meet their employees’ needs and deliver business value.”
The report also revealed that many businesses, around 67% of those surveyed, were uncertain which benefits their workers most value.
LEGAL PIONEERS: A new award has been launched by the Law Society of Scotland as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations. Nominations for the Legal Pioneer Award are open to both solicitors and non-solicitors - past or present - who have made a significant contribution to Scotland’s legal sector.
Susan Murray, president of the Law Society of Scotland, said: “Anyone working in the Scottish legal sector can nominate their chosen legal pioneer, whether they are a solicitor or non-solicitor. We want to hear about the legal pioneers, past or present, who have made a difference and helped create the diverse, dynamic and successful legal sector we see in Scotland today.”
HIGH-FLIERS: Edinburgh Airport has been recognised for the work done to reduce absolute emissions after becoming the first in Scotland to achieve a global carbon accreditation, Level 4 ‘Transformation’ in the Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) scheme. This is one of the highest levels in the global carbon management certification programme for airports. Only four European airports have achieved a higher accreditation.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
BIG BEACH BUSK: It embodies the ethos of punk with its ‘just turn up and play’ approach. And you will find punks lining up alongside everything from classical to samba, to folk, to school recorder band in Portobello on Saturday. It is big (always drawing thousands of visitors in recent years), it is so beachy you’ll taste the sand if the wind is up, as for the busk… just follow the noise to the Prom - and bring your instrument if you play. Noon until 6pm on Saturday.
HOME CUMMING: Tickets go on sale today for An Evening with Alan Cumming in aid of the Royal Lyceum Theatre. Broadcaster Kirsty Wark will host the evening, which will include an audience Q&A, and marks a return to the theatre where the star regularly appeared in the early stages of his career.
PSYCHED UP: Edinburgh Psych Fest returns on Sunday with a day of mind-bending sounds and trippy visuals, following the sell-out success of its debut last year. The sister event of Britain’s biggest psychedelia celebration, Manchester Psyche Fest, has an extended programmed across The Caves, The Mash House, Summerhall and The Queen’s Hall.
QUICK BITES
TAKE A BOW: Bow Hospitality has opened its first Edinburgh restaurant. Cabo is situated at 99 Hanover Street, the former Superico site, and will be the group’s 12 venue overall. It is said to be Pacific-fusion inspired, marrying Baja Californian, Japanese and Mexican cuisines.
CURRYING FAVOUR: Two local restaurants are in the running to be named as “Best in Scotland” at the Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards 2024 – the Radhuni in Loanhead and Nok’s Kitchen which has venues in both Johnston Terrace and Gloucester Street in Edinburgh.