Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 20 April 2022.
Tom Arthur
Scottish National Party
On 13 April, we published, with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, our joint response to the independent report “A New Future for Scotland’s Town Centres”. It is a call to action for all who have an interest in the future of our towns, setting out some of the ways in which we can all play our part in rebuilding, re-energising and reimagining our towns. Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have benefited from over £4.6 billion in support from the Scottish Government. That includes Covid-19 non-domestic rates relief, which has saved businesses around £1.6 billion since 1 April 2020. In the first three months of 2022-23, we are continuing to provide 50 per cent relief for retail, hospitality and leisure, which will be capped at £27,500 per ratepayer. That business support includes our £80 million Covid economic recovery fund for local authorities to support local economies and £6 million for the city centre recovery fund and our Scotland loves local programme.