FOI/202500465597 - Review of 202500456480 · FOI · partially withheld
Documentation and correspondence on Visitor Levy: FOI Review
Information requested
Original Request 202500456480
All documents relating to the question and view taken by the Scottish Government as to whether the Visitor Levy as proposed to be raised and collected by Local Councils, under the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 is taxable income in the hands of the business subject to the levy, (namely the “accommodation provider”); including all submissions and advice notes to Ministers in the Scottish Government and all internal emails between the Scottish Government and its officials and those of other public bodies thereanent, including both Visit Scotland and the HMRC and Revenue Scotland; as well as with COSLA.
And second, all documents relating to whether the Visitor Levy is subject to VAT, and if so to whom the VAT on the levy is payable ( i.e. whether that is the Local authority of HMRC and Revenue Scotland directly) and in each case, whether and by whom the refund of VAT would be made, if at all.
And in particular all documents in which consideration is given as to whether the Levy is subject to VAT as determined whether it, the VAT is detailed separately on the invoices issued to their customer, or simply included in the total charge without being specifically detailed thereon.
Response
I am writing about your request for a review under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) in relation to the following original FOI request:
All documents relating to the question and view taken by the Scottish Government as to whether the Visitor Levy as proposed to be raised and collected by Local Councils, under the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 is taxable income in the hands of the business subject to the levy, (namely the “accommodation provider”); including all submissions and advice notes to Ministers in the Scottish Government and all internal emails between the Scottish Government and its officials and those of other public bodies thereanent, including both Visit Scotland and the HMRC and Revenue Scotland; as well as with COSLA.
And second, all documents relating to whether the Visitor Levy is subject to VAT, and if so to whom the VAT on the levy is payable ( i.e. whether that is the Local authority of HMRC and Revenue Scotland directly) and in each case, whether and by whom the refund of VAT would be made, if at all.
And in particular all documents in which consideration is given as to whether the Levy is subject to VAT as determined whether it, the VAT is detailed separately on the invoices issued to their customer, or simply included in the total charge without being specifically detailed thereon.
Your request for an FOI review stated the following:
“I request a review of the part of the decision that declines to make the documents held public on the grounds that to do so would “inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice to Ministers”.
In relation to the exemptions applied under Section 30 (b) (i) (free and frank provision of advice), I have concluded that the exemption was applied appropriately in most instances, and that some further information should be released.
Therefore, an exemption under section 30(b)(i) of FOISA (free and frank provision of advice) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice. This exemption recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to provide free and frank advice to Ministers before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. Disclosing the content of free and frank advice on the Visitor Levy will substantially inhibit the provision of such advice in the future, particularly because these discussions are still ongoing.
This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in allowing a private space within which officials can provide full and frank advice to Ministers as part of the process of exploring and refining the Government’s policy on the Visitor Levy. This private thinking space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered, based on the best available advice, so that good policy decisions can be taken. Disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues between Ministers and officials, which in turn will undermine the quality of the policy making process, which would not be in the public interest.
I have concluded that some of the content should not have been withheld and some further information should have been released. This has resulted in further information being released within document 8 of the initial FOI release. For ease of reference, I have marked the additional “newly released” material in yellow and identified where 30(b)(i) is being upheld.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Detected exemption language
In relation to the exemptions applied under Section 30 (b) (i) (free and frank provision of advice), I have concluded that the exemption was applied appropriately in most instances, and that some further information should be released. Therefore, an exemption under section 30(b)(i) of FOISA (free and frank provision of advice) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice. This exemption recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to provide free and frank advice to Ministers before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’.