Skip to main content
Loading…

Seòmar agus comataidhean

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

Criathragan Hide all filters

Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 16 May 2025
Select which types of business to include


Select level of detail in results

Displaying 2443 contributions

|

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Town Centres and Retail

Meeting date: 20 April 2022

Colin Beattie

Without commenting on the examples that have been given, it is important to differentiate between situations in which there have been individual projects that have been tremendously successful and those in which there has been a comprehensive town centre plan involving the whole community and so on that has been brought to fruition to make that step change and difference. Phil Prentice, could you comment on that?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Town Centres and Retail

Meeting date: 20 April 2022

Colin Beattie

I am sure that that would be useful.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Town Centres and Retail

Meeting date: 20 April 2022

Colin Beattie

During this discussion we have been talking about various initiatives. There has been discussion about the need for incentives and about business rates and the potential need for rates relief to provide support. There has been talk about online retailers and levelling of the playing field by bringing in a digital sales tax, potentially.

Noting all that, and considering the people who have been putting forward and driving those initiatives, can they survive in the long term without a public subsidy to support them in some form?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Town Centres and Retail

Meeting date: 20 April 2022

Colin Beattie

I was talking about long-term subsidy.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Town Centres and Retail

Meeting date: 20 April 2022

Colin Beattie

The committee has heard repeatedly that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to supporting our town centres. It has also been said repeatedly that, in order to succeed, we need to successfully bring together local communities and businesses. We have asked for examples of that—even just one—that stand out as a success, but no one has been able to point to any. Do the witnesses have any examples of effective collaboration between the public, private and third sectors and local communities that has achieved a success story in a town centre?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Town Centres and Retail

Meeting date: 20 April 2022

Colin Beattie

During the various committee meetings, and from the information that we have received from witnesses—including yourselves—I have been struck by the fact that both local and national Government need to provide some financial support, certainly in the initial stages. There is talk about the need for business rate relief and about evening up the competition between online providers and local providers by bringing in a digital sales tax. To what extent are the models that we are looking at dependent, in the long term, on some form of external subsidy? Is there a point at which businesses become self-sustaining and are there milestones leading to that?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Town Centres and Retail

Meeting date: 20 April 2022

Colin Beattie

Not necessarily, but maybe Kirkcaldy. I do not know.

Public Audit Committee

“Drug and alcohol services: An update”

Meeting date: 31 March 2022

Colin Beattie

To go back to funding arrangements, your 2009 report says that such arrangements are “complex and fragmented”; the situation seems to be unchanged, according to your latest briefing. What is the impact on delivery of services because of those funding arrangements? How can the Scottish Government make improvements in that area?

Public Audit Committee

“Drug and alcohol services: An update”

Meeting date: 31 March 2022

Colin Beattie

Obviously, everybody is very concerned about the issue, which is a big issue for Scotland and something that we have to tackle. Can we take any comfort from the fact that fewer young Scots are using drugs and alcohol? I realise that, among older people, there has been an increase, but can we take some comfort from the fact that, among younger people who would be getting into drugs and alcohol for the first time, drug and alcohol use is reducing? Also, in the first nine months of 2021 versus 2020, there was a 4 per cent drop in the number of deaths. Is it too soon to think that that is a trend that is resulting from some of the initiatives that have been taken?

Public Audit Committee

“Drug and alcohol services: An update”

Meeting date: 31 March 2022

Colin Beattie

It is.

I will carry on the theme of funding. My next question is about transparency, which you raise in paragraph 17 of your report. Is it inevitable that transparency is difficult to exhibit when funding is so fragmented and there are so many stakeholders? Is the solution to the complexity of the funding also the solution to the transparency?