Scottish Greens accuse Scottish Government of ‘cave-in to corporate lobbyists' on Infrastructure Levy
By dropping the proposed Infrastructure Levy the SNP has caved in to corporate lobbyists, say the Scottish Greens.
The levy would have required housing developers to pay towards the cost of the public infrastructure such as schools and health centres required to support their developments.
A provision to create the levy was included in the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. This provision has a July 2026 deadline. If regulations are not introduced by that point, it expires and an Infrastructure Levy cannot be introduced. This week’s announcement makes it all but certain that the deadline will be missed and the power will expire.
The Infrastructure Levy was agreed by MSPs following evidence that current largely voluntary agreements for developers to contribute towards local infrastructure were not working.
Confirming the policy u-turn, Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee said “I know that that announcement will be welcomed by the industry”.
Scottish Greens finance spokesperson Ross Greer MSP said:
“Sadly, this is a huge win for greedy housing developers and a massive loss for communities who need basic infrastructure like schools, health centres and transport links. In what has become a worrying theme, the SNP have again caved in to corporate lobbying.
“New private developments clearly create the need for more public services. The Infrastructure Levy was intended to learn from past mistakes, when huge housing developments were completed without any way to fund the basic services a community requires. The levy would have ensured that developers making huge profits from new housing then pay their fair share towards those public facilities. Allowing this power to expire is a shocking decision by the SNP.
“Across the country areas with lots of new housing are already seeing huge capacity problems at GP surgeries, long waiting lists for nurseries and totally inadequate bus and rail services. The Scottish Greens will keep pushing for this levy to be introduced before the deadline, giving us the funds we need to get to grips with those problems.”