3. To ask the Scottish Government how much financial support in response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been given to hospitality and tourism businesses in Inverclyde. (S5O-05100)

The Government has provided a range of support to businesses in Inverclyde as part of our overall package to mitigate the economic impact of the virus. That includes providing non-domestic rates relief to retail, hospitality and leisure premises worth £8 million in Inverclyde in the current financial year. We have also provided direct grant support to businesses in Inverclyde that have been obliged to close or to operate under restrictions. Between 2 November 2020 and 22 February 2021, more than £2 million was provided to businesses in Inverclyde through the strategic framework’s temporary closure and restriction funds, and £2.4 million has been paid out to 377 businesses in hospitality, retail and leisure top-up payments.

The financial support that has been provided to hospitality and tourism businesses in my Greenock and Inverclyde Constituency is welcome, and I thank the Cabinet secretary for that, but will he confirm that applicants from the rural parts of my constituency can apply for the increased rural tourism infrastructure fund? Will the cabinet secretary consider introducing a Clyde coast tourism fund to help the four local authority areas of Inverclyde, West Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire and Argyll and Bute, which have greater tourism potential as well as local economic challenges?

Mr McMillan has doggedly and continuously advocated tourism on his patch and, more widely, marine tourism, as other members have argued robustly for interests in their areas. Were I to promise a fund for every single MSP, I would be going further even than Father Christmas. Much as I may resemble that character, that would be an imprudent thing for a Government Minister to do.

Nonetheless, I can confirm that we had unabated generosity in the budget in respect of the increase in the rural tourism infrastructure fund from £3 million to more than £6 million. I can confirm that the fund is open to applications from the local authority in Mr McMillan’s Constituency.

I will not suggest which fantasy character the Cabinet secretary resembles.

The cabinet secretary mentioned fine hotels and restaurants in his previous answer. Many of those hotels, restaurants and hospitality businesses, including those in Inverclyde, have been given substantial amounts of state funding during the Covid lockdown. However, far too many of them are still very bad employers and treat their workers in a very bad way. What has the Minister been doing to negotiate with them so that, when we come back to a more normal situation, we do not return to staff being exploited?

The member knows that the Scottish Government has consistently and rightly advocated the payment of the living wage and fair remuneration and treatment of all employees.

That has been a theme and practice of the Scottish Government in this session of Parliament and before, and rightly so.

Secondly, obviously we welcome the fact that the furlough is available to assist businesses in meeting their staffing costs. However, Neil Findlay may or may not know that the furlough does not cover all the costs; it covers around 80 per cent of them. It does not cover, for example, national insurance or pension payments.

Businesses have fixed overheads. I want those businesses to survive. That is the point of what we are doing. We are trying to provide lifeline support, not to replace all revenue. Surely it is better that those businesses survive so that their employees have a job to come back to. I would therefore have thought that the support that we are providing to those businesses—which I believe is more generous than that down south—will directly benefit the employees. That is a good thing, is it not?