McArthur presses Scottish Government over how it will exclude vape shops from rates relief

Scottish Liberal Democrat finance spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP has today pressed SNP ministers to set out how it intends to exclude vape shops from non-domestic rates relief.

On 23 June 2026, the Deputy First Minister announced that from 1 April 2027, non-domestic rates relief will be removed from vape shops.

However the Scottish Government has failed to respond to a series of written questions from Mr McArthur asking how it will define a vape shop for the purposes of determining eligibility for non-domestic rates relief and what criteria will be used to distinguish a vape shop from other retail premises that sell vaping products and how they will ensure that retailers offering a limited range of vaping products are not excluded from non-domestic rates relief. Instead Public Sector Reform Secretary Ivan McKee suggested that despite the policy theoretically being implemented from April 2027, these details would not be available until after the next budget.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have set out plans for:

• Reviewing the safety of vape shops on high streets and the risk they could pose to their neighbours and critical local infrastructure.
• Backing restrictions on the marketing of vapes to reflect their role as a tool for smoking cessation and limit their appeal to non-smokers and young people, removing flavourings and influencer promotions, introducing stricter rules for retailers, revamping public health campaigns, and backing further research into their health effects.
• Giving councils the power to shut shops refusing to pay their business rates and change the law to allow for the pursuit of landlords who turn a blind eye.
• Overhauling outdated Business Improvement District (BID) legislation so those who pay get a proper say.

Mr McArthur said:

“It's clear that communities want action to tackle the proliferation of vape shops on our high streets - some of which are backed by decidedly dodgy business practices.

"However, it looks as if the Scottish Government have had the idea for an eye-catching policy and chose to announce it with no idea how to make it work in practice.

"There are many small retailers for whom vapes make up a small proportion of their business. I would not want to see those retailers excluded from rates relief.

"Scottish Liberal Democrats want to review the safety of vape shops and the risk they pose to their neighbours, give councils the power to shut shops refusing to pay their business rates and change the law to allow for the pursuit of landlords who turn a blind eye to dangerous illegal conduct by their retail tenants.”