Scottish Budget

[Shabbychic]

It's Scottish Budget Day again.

They need 2 extra votes to get it through. I wonder if they will get them, or will it be back to the drawing board?

It appears Labour won't back it no matter what, The Lib-Dems will back it only if Independence is off the table, and I think we can rule out the Tories, although they, supposedly, may discuss things further if Independence is ruled out.

So, it all depends on the Greens once again. I know they are holding out at present, but which way will they go at the end of the day?

[Shabbychic]

Looks like an agreement has been reached with the Greens on the vote later today.

Fingers crossed.

[Bystander1]

Looks like an agreement has been reached with the Greens on the vote later today.

Fingers crossed.

Was there ever any doubt ?

[Fulmar]

So that's the tourist tax in then.

[Shabbychic]

Well, maybe. The deal done with the Greens, which wasn't 100% guaranteed this time, was new powers for councils to raise extra tax for local services, which I believe opens the door for a "tourist tax". However, the SG will first undertake a formal consultation on the principle of this so called visitor levy, before actually introducing the legislation, as many are not happy with it. I'm not really for this "tourist tax" myself.

[aqua]

For several years the Greens have extracted sensible budget concessions from the SNP. This is good. :)

[B0wer]

I couldn't give 2 hoots about the tourist tax. The one that has got me cross is the workplace parking levy. All very well and good for them in the central belt to say "lets tax businesses for parking space and workers for parking to encourage greener travel" they have public transport up the wazoo. What about up here and along the west coast. Most of us have NO choice but to drive to work cause the busses don't run often enough, to enough places and those that do run ain't exactly reliable. The number of hospital appointments I have missed because the bus was late or never came (presumably broken down somewhere)....

All it is is yet another tax on hardworking families and hard pressed businesses. If highland council go ahead and apply it here I can see whats left of our high streets dying - only tesco, B&M and lidl have pockets deep enough to absorb this extra cost.

[Gronnuck]

I couldn't give 2 hoots about the tourist tax.

You will when you have to spend a night in Inverness when you have any business at Raigmore Hospital and there's no room in the hostel.

[B0wer]

You will when you have to spend a night in Inverness when you have any business at Raigmore Hospital and there's no room in the hostel.

According to bbc the tourist tax is currently proposed at £1 per room per night except for Edinburgh which will be £2 per room per night....

Given the grand scheme of things a couple of quid extra for a hospital appointment (btw you can claim back accommodation costs if you can prove you had no option but overnight accommodation in order to attend your appointment), is nothing compared to the potential scores or even hundreds of pounds we would have to pay for the privilege of going to work. Between that and the cost of wrap around childcare it's almost not worth both parents working. (And yes I know you can claim a percentage of childcare back through working tax credits but you still have to fork out for it up front ... and they only pay that % back if the child care you managed to find is registered for that scheme. Your standard babysitter isn't.)

The nice lady at the radiology desk said that accommodation and escort costs have always been allowed (though you need a gp prescription for the escort) It's hidden in the slightly smaller print on the back of the form.

[B0wer]

Spotted in the paper today that the government is advising that businesses pass the £400 per person parking levy onto their staff to encourage greener thinking. The other half has certainly gone green at the thought as has the pavement.....

Seriously who has a spare £400 knocking around to pay to go to work?

[Gronnuck]

Spotted in the paper today that the government is advising that businesses pass the £400 per person parking levy onto their staff to encourage greener thinking.

As I understand it the Scottish grubbiment has passed the responsibility to the local authorities to choose whether to impose the parking levy and who to impose it upon. So far it appears that NHS staff will be exempt, teachers' unions are arguing they should be exempt too. I imagine lots of public sector unions will fight it too. As if life wasn't difficult enough the Scottish grubbiment appears hell bent on causing more problems for workers in this period of austerity, while being careful to pass the buck so the blame will fall elsewhere.

[Fulmar]

Well, whoever dreamed it up obviously has no concept of what it means to live and work in a place like Caithness- but the point is, they should know.

[aqua]

I recently heard the parking levy referred to as the Poll Tax on Wheels, a good comparison if a senior executive at Amazon Development Centre in central Edinburgh pays the same parking tax as a junior assistant at Dounreay.