My scan's at 8am at Raigmore. I had to stay the night.
Patients
No medical exemption. Pay at the desk, and a refund only if NHS already covers your stay
£5a night
Who pays
It's a tax on a bed, not on a tourist
Anyone who sleeps in a hotel, B&B, guest house or holiday let pays £5 a room a night, whatever brought them here. These are the people the council wants a fiver from, every night they stay.
I'm visiting my husband in hospital, then back to a hotel room. It's not a holiday!
Families visiting
Near a loved one in hospital. No refund at all
£5a night
We've travelled all day for Granny's service. We have to stay over.
Mourners
Home for a funeral
£5a night
You're taxing my wedding guests' hotel rooms?
Wedding guests
Family from all over for the big day
£5a night
The job's four weeks. The levy's every night!
Workers
Fixing the lines, masts and roads you rely on
£5a night
Too far to get home between visits. I have to stay over!
Carers
On minimum wage, covering miles of rural visits
£5a night
Six-week placement at Raigmore. Six weeks of levy!
Student nurses
Unpaid placements, far from home
£5a night
I'm covering the GP surgery for a fortnight!
Locum doctors
No locum, no clinic
£5a night
A Highlander staying in the Highlands. Taxed!
Highlanders
Enjoying a break in our own region
£5a night
Who pays nothing
£0. Not even covered.
Plenty of visitors use the same roads, toilets and car parks but never sleep in a bed that's charged, so the levy doesn't touch them at all.
200,000
cruise passengers, give or take, came ashore at Invergordon alone in 2025, by the port's own count. They sleep on the ship.
Levy paid: £0
Back to Edinburgh tonight. No overnight, no levy!
Day-trip coaches
£0Sleeping in a lay-by. Not a penny!
Lay-by campers
£0Five pound a night? Yer aff yer heid!
Dirty campers
£0The facts
The takings are in
Hotels, B&Bs, guest houses, holiday letsPer room, per night, whatever the room costs.£5
Hostels, campsites, caravan parksPer room or pitch, per night.£2
The council's expected takeA year, by its own estimate.£9m
Exemption for NHS patientsThe council has chosen not to give one. Patients pay up front. The levy is only refunded, to NHS Highland, on stays NHS already pays for. Family visiting a patient pay in full. No timescale for refunds has been given.None
Spent just running itA year in administration costs, by the council's own estimate, taken out of the levy before anything reaches local projects.£550k
Admin cost to each business£150 to £10,000 to set up, then up to £500 a year, by the Scottish Government's estimate. VAT-registered hosts must add 20% VAT on top, so £5 becomes £6, plus card handling fees.£10k
Who collects itLocal accommodation businesses add it to the bill and do the complicated admin.The host
What they said
In his own words
And that's money that we're not having to ask Highland Council tax payers for, so there's a huge opportunity here.
Cllr Ken Gowans
Chair of the council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee. STV, 8 November 2024
RealityHighlanders staying away from home pay it too. On 25 August 2026 the council voted down an amendment to exempt Highland residents. Inverness Courier
Your stay
What would your night cost?
LEVY£30
2 rooms × 3 nights × £5, for a family at Raigmore.
Me? £0. I sleep on the ship.Have your say
Press start: tell the council
21days left to respond
No decision has been made. The council's consultation closes on 30 November 2026, and councillors decide on 10 December. Every response is read.
Level 1
Answer the council's consultation
It's the council's own survey, on its Engage Highland website. About 15 minutes. Anyone can answer: residents, visitors and businesses.
What to say, in your own words
Want the detail first? Read the council's plan
- Who it hits: patients, families visiting hospital, carers, workers and Highlanders pay every night.
- Who it misses: cruise passengers, day-trip coaches and lay-by campers pay nothing.
- Your own example: who you know who'd pay it, and why they're here.
Level 2
Email your councillors
Your ward's councillors vote on 10 December. Two minutes: put in your postcode, change the message to your own words and send. A short, polite email carries real weight.
or
Choose your ward above
If the email button doesn't open anything, copy the addresses and message into your own email. Councillors' addresses are from highland.gov.uk.
7 Sep Consultation opened
30 Nov Consultation closes
10 Dec Councillors decide
2028 Earliest it could start