Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you.

I remind members and witnesses that they should ensure that all their devices are on silent and that all other notifications are turned off during the meeting.

The committee previously agreed to take item 5 in private.

Thank you for those additional comments.

Pam Gosal has a brief supplementary question.

May I clarify a point, Councillor Macgregor? I understand what you said about councils wanting to have as much flexibility as possible on the model. However, other people who have come in to talk to us about it have said that there needs to be a national agreement on one method or the other, whether that be a flat rate or a percentage rate.

Great. Thank you for clarifying that. I bring in Pam Gosal.

Mirren, would you like to come in?

Thank you for that—in my mind, you raise more questions that I am curious about. If you are talking about one single platform across Scotland, in which local authorities can choose to programme in their percentage or their flat rate, would that involve a relationship between the business and the local authority, or would it be a three-way platform through which the visitor makes a booking too?

I am seeing heads shaking. Come on in, Mirren—we will wait for you. We have to have these pauses.

Thanks for that. Mirren, do you have anything to add?

We are joined by our second panel of witnesses. I welcome Tom Arthur, the Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance, who is supported by three Scottish Government officials: Ninian Christie, who is a solicitor in the Scottish Government legal directorate; Alisdair Grahame, who is a policy adviser in the local government and analytical services division; and Ben Haynes, who is the bill team leader for the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill.

Before we move to questions from members, I invite Mr Arthur to make a short opening statement.