To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the request from the Scottish Retail Consortium, Go Forth Stirling BID, and other business improvement districts for Scotland to follow England and introduce a permanent business rate discount for all retail, hospitality and leisure premises. (S6O-05368)

As I indicated earlier, the draft budget ensures that the revenues that will be raised from non-domestic rates in 2026-27 will be 6 per cent lower in real terms than pre-Covid. That is an indication of the steps that we have taken to reduce the impact of the rates bill on businesses. About half of the properties in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector continue to be eligible for the 100 per cent small business bonus relief. A further 37,000 properties in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector that have a rateable value up to and including £100,000 could benefit from the new 15 per cent relief and the relief for islands. The budget guarantees that support for the full three years of the revaluation.

Prior to the budget yesterday, five of Scotland’s largest business improvement districts, including the Stirling BID in my region, warned that England’s new permanent 10 per cent business rates discount will make Scotland

“a materially more expensive place”

to do business, putting at risk sectors that employ 457,000 Scots. The Minister may well laud the meagre measures that are in the budget to support business, but, as the Campaign for Real Ale stated,

“Transitional reliefs may sound good but if this Budget still means higher business rates Bills than pubs are paying now then this will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for many hard-pressed licensees.”

On this Government’s watch, the current system is becoming an existential threat to our town centres, from all avenues. Where is the creative thinking? Will the Government agree to freeze non-domestic rates so that we can consider guidelines for the review and bring forward a joined-up approach to fair business taxation?

Just to be clear on the facts, Roz McCall mentioned 10 per cent relief, but we have 15 per cent relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. As I have already said, we are putting £320 million into transitional reliefs for the three-year period and we are putting £860 million in total into reliefs. We can listen to the commentary from businesses and business organisations. Scottish Chambers of Commerce has said that

“businesses can take heart from today’s Holyrood Budget, which offered firms immediate relief from rising cost pressures.”

It also welcomed

“measures such as NDR relief”.

Those are words from business organisations that answer Roz McCall’s point and Murdo Fraser’s earlier commentary.

We are very much focusing on working with businesses and business sectors to put in place steps to address some of the increases. Taking into account the reliefs package that we have put in place, that work is absolutely recognised across the piece as being a significant step by the Scottish Government.

Humza Yousaf joins us remotely for question 7.