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Thanks for that. If we have time, I hope that I can come back in with other questions later.

The exemptions question is important. It was decided to exempt cruise ships from the bill, but we need to pursue the detail on allowing councils to decide. For example, would the council tax of people who live in Edinburgh who have family members come to stay allow those family members to be exempt? Has that been looked at? In that situation, friends and family members might be coming to provide care. You said earlier—did I hear this right?—that you had not looked at the definition of “tourist” for the bill, which will lead to a lot of definitions being needed for exemptions.

There is nothing in the bill that would prevent a council such as the City of Edinburgh Council from saying, “If you have a family member to stay, that can be an exemption.” A booking system could include that.

Okay. One would imagine, in that case, that the council would want to have that defined before it took forward a levy, given its responsibilities.

That is helpful.

Did you want to come in as well, John St Clair?

I am sure that a lot of Edinburgh residents will be keen for that to be included.

To go back to what you said earlier, it is a sad situation that a lot of hotels and guesthouses in Edinburgh are currently being used as temporary or emergency accommodation. Am I right in saying that that is not captured under the tax? You touched on the situation of Ukrainian refugees and people fleeing domestic abuse who might, in an emergency, be housed in a hotel or a guesthouse.

I wonder what the legal definition is. I know from casework that people often move between hotels or guesthouses, depending on availability, especially during the festival, when hotels want to empty the property and keep it purely for tourists’ use. Is there a legal definition of “main emergency accommodation”?

The point about different periods was touched on earlier. The Edinburgh festival is a one-off. I used to work, however, in the tourism industry in Perthshire, which is very seasonal. Do you expect exemptions and flexibility to be for winter months only, and that the tax will not necessarily be applied then in order to ensure that, for example, the Highlands are not discouraging people during quiet periods?

That is helpful. Thank you.