Chamber and committees

A lot of the questions that I was going to ask have been touched upon, but I am still looking for clarification on one particular issue. We have talked a lot this morning about the digital boost scheme and the grants of up to 50 per cent that Business Gateway has helped with, and I also note that in its submission the British Independent Retailers Association says that there is a requirement for more

“Co-ordinated collection of the support available—both private and public”

that could be aimed at small and microbusinesses to help get them an e-commerce platform. Hugh Lightbody, could you highlight what funding is available to the retail sector—say, through the Scottish funding portal—to allow those businesses to take up the opportunity of having an online presence?

You touch on the role of the agencies. In November, Skills Development Scotland announced that its use of the national transition training fund will help up to 20,000 people with digital technology. Will that start to address the issue that you have highlighted?

Peter Mowforth highlighted the fact that 98 per cent of companies do not engage online, and he talked about Chisholm Hunter. I found another example: Findra Clothing has had 40 per cent year-on-year growth and has opened another shop in Edinburgh. Stuart, how do we get the message across to small private businesses that the way forward is online?

You said that we are on track to hit one third of sales being online. Figures from the Office for National Statistics currently have it at 25 per cent—down from the 37 per cent high. When will that growth hit 33 per cent?

Thank you for that clarification.

Carolyn, do you have anything to add? How do we encourage people to take up those opportunities?

Thanks.

My next question is for David Lonsdale. How can we change the planning system and the consent system? The City of Edinburgh Council has more than a dozen classifications. How can we encourage use of empty premises when there is a long-winded and expensive process to go through?

In the written evidence that Boots submitted, it said:

“town planning needs to become more agile”.

Will you expand on what was meant by that?

I will ask about how we tackle the blight of empty retail units. We have already identified one issue, which is absentee landlords, and Martin Newman touched on some of the topics that I want to ask about, such as commercial leases. What are the stumbling blocks in commercial leases that prevent premises from coming back into use? Another topic is the town planning classification system. What changes need to happen to local development plans?

I ask you to respond first, Martin, and highlight what needs to change in commercial leases. You mentioned that you would like there to be turnover-related leases. Many companies are tied into leases at the moment, so how do we unblock that situation to bring property back into use?

I want to bring in Maxine Smedley. In recent years, Boots has closed a number of stores across the UK. What difficulties has it had in getting out of those leases? Boots has talked about town planning needing to be “more agile”. Will you expand on what was meant by that?