Chamber and committees

And we do it.

I highlight one of the big lessons that I have learned during my time in the Government, which relates to what happens if we do not look comprehensively at what every area can contribute to a policy objective. A good example is the child poverty delivery plan. To put it simply, we might think, for example, that we can tackle child poverty by increasing benefit payments. If we took that view, we would not have a particularly effective anti-child poverty strategy, because we would miss out on a range of other interventions that the Government and various organisations could make to support that objective.

When we formulated the child poverty delivery plan, we actively challenged different Government departments about how they were working, how they were interacting with people who were living in poverty and what further support they could put in place to assist those people and enable us to achieve the wider objectives. To me, that represents some of the challenges that exist.

Off the top of my head, I cannot think of an area in which we need to do more in that respect, but if there are issues on the minds of committee members, I would be happy to listen to those.

The delivery plans were published in October.

We will make a judgment about the report’s publication, but it will be during this calendar year.

The other thing—

As Mr MacDonald correctly identifies, there are now more businesses benefiting from the small business bonus scheme than there were when we set out that scheme. I should point out that we have put in place further incentives in the non-domestic rates scheme for companies involved in renewables to try to tailor the relief package and encourage more development. I expect the number of properties that will benefit from business rates to be about 100,000. We also have some transitional relief available for small companies in that respect.

These commitments have the hallmark of being part of the fabric of our proposition, but we have to make an active choice to maintain such schemes. The Government has considered the issues that have been raised in this area of policy and determined that our small business community continues to require that degree of support.

We have tried to address some of the issues through the design of the transitional relief scheme that is available, and we constantly monitor and assess the continued appropriateness of the companies that are involved in the small business bonus scheme and the appropriate levels at which business rates relief should be set. Some of the thinking from the Fraser of Allander Institute helps us in that respect.

On the first part of your question, I would be very surprised if we do not end up in such a position as a consequence of what Ana Stewart recommends to us. I am simply trying to get my process correct: we have commissioned the review and we will hear what the outcome is. I would be absolutely staggered if we do not end up taking specific measures to enhance the participation of women in entrepreneurialism as a consequence of Ana Stewart’s review. I think that that is highly likely but, regardless of what the review produces, the Government is committed to taking such action. That is why we have commissioned Ana Stewart to do the work that she is undertaking.

Your question about conditionality is much wider. If I play back what you were proposing, that would mean that, in the future, we would fund Scottish Enterprise only if it met particular targets on particular aspects of women’s participation in entrepreneurialism. There is nothing wrong with that as an idea, but I think that it would have wider implications for the future sustainability of organisations such as Scottish Enterprise.

We have not used the conditional funding model for public sector agencies. I am not saying that there is not an argument for it; there is a perfectly legitimate argument for it. Indeed, it might be a way of prompting the type of performance outcomes that we want to achieve, so I am not dismissing it. I am simply saying that it would require wide consideration of the nature of public expenditure and how we go about that. I think that Parliament would have some pretty broad views about that.

Okay.

There are several areas in which the Government is trying to provide support, within our resources and areas of responsibility. First, there is the approach that we are taking on non-domestic rates. The principal request of 16 business organisations was for the rates poundage to be frozen. Normally, there would be an expectation that that would increase in line with inflation. I took a decision to freeze the business rate, but that does not come without a cost to the Government, which is estimated at £308 million. Freezing the business rate means that businesses in Scotland have the lowest business rates poundage in the United Kingdom, and they also do not have to face an inflation increase.

Secondly, recognising the implications of the revaluation that is taking place, we have put in place some transitional relief for businesses. Thirdly, the small business bonus scheme is designed to provide support to companies in sustaining their operations. I do not suggest for a moment that all of that will address all the issues.

We have engaged in dialogue with the UK Government on its successor energy package and have contributed our thinking on that, but those are decisions for the UK Government. I welcome the fact that some on-going support is available, but I think that we are all conscious of the fact that there continue to be significant challenges for businesses as a consequence of those issues.

In addition to those measures, the Government makes other investments, such as in support for skills training, which is important, and, in particular, apprenticeships. That is linked to the points that the convener rightly raised with me about the labour market. We also make other investments in an effort to ensure that colleges are adapting their provision to meet the challenges that are prevalent in the labour market and the shift in the labour market that has to be made to support our net zero ambitions—I am thinking about the need to shift activity to support the development of renewables and the significant opportunities that arise out of ScotWind.

Those are just some of the measures that the Government is taking. We remain very open to listening to the views of the business community, which is why we set up the business regulation task force, which is jointly chaired by my colleague Ivan McKee and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities enterprise spokesperson, Councillor Macgregor. The purpose of the business regulation task force is to listen carefully to business; where there are issues in the regulatory environment that are causing obstacles and there is no good reason for them to be there, we try to address those as quickly as we can.

I understand the comparison that Mr Smyth puts to me, but it is important to recognise that we are not looking at directly comparable schemes with regard to what Scotland offers in relation to business rates and what is habitually offered in England. We have two different propositions, and the small business bonus scheme in Scotland is much more generous than comparable schemes south of the border.

Of course, any measures that we take come at a cost. The overall estimated cost of the business rates measures that we are taking is £744 million, so substantial investment is being made in supporting business.

One of the factors that bore heavily on my consideration of what the right thing to do would be was the representations from business organisations asking us to freeze the poundage, which represents a comprehensive approach across business sectors. I was pleased to be able to do that.

The second relevant factor is that we estimate that half the properties in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will be eligible for 100 per cent small business bonus relief in 2023-24, so a substantial contribution is being made to alleviate the issues and challenges that those sectors will face.

I think, generally, that that would be the case. If you have specific data sets in mind, I would be happy to look at whether we can enhance them but, generally, we try to look at all issues through the prism of gender. The point that you put to me about entrepreneurship is particularly relevant, because the data that I have seen shows that there is a deteriorating position in relation to women’s involvement in entrepreneurship, hence the work that Ana Stewart is taking forward for the Government.