Chamber and committees

I am conscious of the time. I think that the VAT registration requirement for digital boost funding was meant to stop the massive fraud that we have seen with pandemic funds in other places. However, that needs to be looked at. There is something in what Stuart Mackinnon said about how we develop it into a better product.

With regard to curation, women are 52 per cent of the population but are underrepresented in business in Scotland. I listened to what Gillian Crawford said about the need to localise. Packages exist and are free; we want the practitioners. Who does the curation and how do we do it?

I am conscious that the convener might cut us off, but those are really rich ideas.

Stuart Mackinnon, who should do that and how?

That is helpful.

I will bring in Paul White on the role of local authorities in co-ordinating information for transport hubs from a bus perspective. What more should they be doing?

Thank you. Can Steve Gooding answer the question about integrated transport hubs from a car perspective?

Thank you. I certainly recognise that situation from a constituency case point of view, so that is a point well made.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. I want to ask about local authorities and how they can best support the delivery of integrated public and active travel networks. Do they have a role? What should that role be in co-ordinating information flows, ticketing and the development of transport hubs?

I will come first to Ewan Wallace. To bring the issue to life, could you reflect on what that means for cities and for semi-rural areas? For example, cities have multimodal challenges, and in relation to semi-rural areas, there are proposals for park and rides on the M8 at the Heartlands junction and at the new junction at Winchburgh on the M9. Should that be the role of the local authority or of the transport partnership?

I will then ask Paul White to talk about the role of integrated transport hubs from a bus perspective, before inviting Steve Gooding to reflect on what he expects in relation to cars and park and ride, and to relate that to the concept of shared electric vehicles, which he referred to earlier.

I will direct my second question to Ewan Wallace, unless the other two witnesses want to come in—I will be guided by the convener on time. I want to discuss the current funding arrangements for active travel infrastructure. Public funds are channelled through Sustrans. Is that compatible with national and local climate ambitions? If not, what funding arrangements should be in place? My question is about co-ordination of funding for active travel and a local authority’s perspective on the role of Sustrans.

What about your members’ relationship with landlords? What is your overview of the pattern of activity of landlords of and investors in properties occupied by your retailers? They might have been sitting on properties for a long time, because they thought that they would sell for a higher price in the future, but that prospect has perhaps diminished more than ever. What are your members saying about that?

Good morning, everyone. I, too, am interested in buildings and their use. When we were in Dumfries, we were very struck by the fact that it is a large town, but there are vacancies across the second and third floors of all the retail premises, whether or not they are filled. If we want people to live and work in town centres so that they get a great experience as customers on the doorstep, how can we tackle vacancies above the first floor?

I will go to Maxine Smedley first. What has been the experience of Boots stores? What is done with the properties in our towns that have second or third floors? Just-in-time supply means that properties that have previously been used for storage do not need to be used for that. What is preventing you from helping or enabling those properties to be put to residential use? It might now be in your interest for those to be used if you want people to live in town centres.