THE SNP are set to introduce a cruise ship tax as part of a bid to win support from the Greens ahead of the Scottish Budget.
Shona Robison, the Finance Secretary, said the Government would “move forward as quickly as we can” with the levy.
If given the green light, the tax would be brought in over the next 18 months to be in place before the 2026 Holyrood election.
A senior government source told The Times ministers were sceptical about taxing private jets despite John Swinney suggesting the income could be used to reduce rail fares for the general public.
The idea of a cruise ship tax was announced at the Green conference in Dunfermline last year.
Patrick Harvie (below), co-leader of the Scottish Greens, said he welcomed the idea of a levy but stressed it was "only one of the changes necessary" for his party to offer their support to the SNP.
He told The National: "A cruise ship levy is an important change that will raise vital funds for port communities across Scotland while deterring one of the dirtiest and most polluting forms of travel.
"It is a commitment that Scottish Green MSPs secured when we were part of the government and must be progressed and delivered in this parliamentary term, as both the Greens and the SNP agreed last year.
"There is definitely a scope for agreeing a positive and progressive budget, but only if the SNP is prepared to be ambitious and use every lever in its power to make Scotland a fairer, greener and better place and for people and planet.
"A cruise ship levy is an important step, but it is only one of the changes that is necessary.
"Will the SNP continue to give handouts to big businesses and elite landowners, or will they use that money to lift children out of poverty? Will they continue to pour billions of pounds into polluting road building projects, or will they redirect it into helping people to insulate their homes and permanently scrapping peak rail fares?"
During a Holyrood debate on budget priorities, Green MSPs called for the introduction of a private jet tax, the revaluation and reform of council tax, and a public health levy on alcohol and tobacco retailers to support frontline recovery services.
Ross Greer, the party’s finance spokesman, said that “agreement is possible [on the budget] — the challenge is for the Scottish Government to prove they are able and willing to deliver it”.
Following the collapse of the Bute House Agreement earlier in the year and the Greens suggesting they are going to find it difficult to support the Scottish Government’s financial proposals, it is hoped a cruise ship tax can help broker a deal between the parties.
Robison (below) told MSPs that work on a cruise ship levy was “intensifying” but did not directly respond to Greer’s requests.
Ministers have reportedly taken part in round-table discussions with interested parties, including councils, to discuss the merits of the cruise ship levy and a formal consultation will be published in the next few months.
The legislation would give councils the power to levy the charge and to keep the proceeds.
A cruise ship tax is already a popular idea across Europe. Catalan authorities want to raise the current levy of €7 per day for every passenger who spends fewer than 12 hours in Barcelona.
Last month Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister, announced an increase in the country’s port tax from 35 cents for every cruise ship passenger to €20 to visit popular Greek islands.
Orkney receives about 192,000 visitors every year — as many as 7000 a day from cruise ships — which disrupts life for its 22,000 inhabitants.
In August, Orkney introduced a limit on the number of large ships docking at Kirkwall.
With regards to the Scottish Budget, Alex Salmond’s Alba Party has also said that a deal with it is “on the table” if the Scottish Government moves to mitigate the UK Government’s cuts to the Winter Fuel Payment.
Ash Regan, Alba’s sole representative at Holyrood, also wants ministers to deliver on the SNP’s previous commitment to provide free school meals for all primary school children – a policy the Greens have also suggested they want to see implemented.
The prospect of a cruise ship tax comes weeks after a new law allowing local authorities to implement a tourist tax came into force, which will give councils the power to add charges to stays at hotels and B&Bs.
City of Edinburgh Council became the first local authority to approve plans to introduce the 5% tax, in a move expected to raise tens of millions of pounds each year.
