 Mae'r next item of business is a stage 3 debate on motion 5095 in the name of Tom Arthur on non-domestic rates coronavirus Scotland Bill. Before the debate begins, as members will be aware, the Presiding Officer is required understanding orders to decide whether or not in her view any provision of the bill relates to a protected subject matter. That is whether it modifies the electoral system or franchise for Scottish parliamentary elections. In the case of this bill, in the Presiding Officer's view, no provision of the non-domestic rates coronavirus Scotland Bill relates to a protected subject matter. Therefore, the bill does not require a supermajority to be passed at stage 3. Before I invite Tom Arthur to open the debate, I call on Kate Forbes to signify crown consent to the bill, and I call on the cabinet secretary. For the purposes of rule 9.11 of the standing orders, I advise the Parliament that her Majesty, having been informed of the purpose of the non-domestic rates coronavirus Scotland Bill, has consented to place her prerogative and interests insofar as they are affected by the bill at the disposal of the Parliament for the purposes of the bill. Thank you very much, cabinet secretary. We will now move to the debate. As ever, I would invite members who wish to participate to press the request-to-speak buttons now or as soon as possible, and I call on Tom Arthur to speak to and move the motion minister for around seven minutes, please. I am pleased to open the debate of the non-domestic rates coronavirus Scotland Bill. I would like to start by thanking the convener, Ariane Burgess, and members of the local government housing and planning committee for their assidious scrutiny of the bill during stages 1 and 2 and for their on-going support of its measures and a small number of amendments that we made. I would also like to thank the Finance and Public Administration Committee for their consideration of the bill's financial memorandum. It is not often that we have a bill without any stage 3 amendments, and it is a fair reflection of the cross-party support of this bill, which is attracted in stages 1 and 2, and I appreciate the contributions that members have made throughout. The intention of the bill is to deliver fairness for all ratepayers and ensure that, for all non-domestic properties, any effects of Covid-19 are considered at revaluation. Rateable values of non-domestic properties are periodically updated at revaluations to reflect changes in the general level of rents. The next revaluation is on 1 April 2023. Outside of revaluations, amendments can be made to reflect a material change of circumstances. A material change of circumstances is typically a physical change to a property, such as an extension or demolition, or it could be a major change in a specific area where the property is located, such as localised roadworks. However, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 40,000 appeals have been lodged on non-domestic properties. The timing of this abnormal spike suggests that most of those were lodged because of the pandemic. We do not believe that the material change of circumstances provisions are appropriate in relation to Covid-19. Market-wide economic changes affecting property values should be reflected at revaluations, when all relevant impacts on values across all properties will be taken into account. That would include any impact on rateable values arising from Covid-19 or Covid-19 restrictions. That is a view that is shared by the UK Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Assembly, where similar legislation has already been passed. In June of last year, we announced that we intended to take measures to rule out Covid appeals. The valuation and rating coronavirus in Scotland order 2021 came into force on 1 December 2021. However, it only has effect back to 1 April 2021. The bill builds on that order, going back further than was possible with secondary legislation, and applies the rule that is set out in the order to both rateable value and net annual value from which rateable values are derived. It provides that in calculating the rateable value or the net annual value in relation to any property in the 2017 valuation role. No account can be taken of any matter occurring on or after 2 April 2020. That is directly or indirectly attributable to coronavirus. The bill was introduced last December and amendments at stage 2 clarified and strengthened the policy intention, but should a matter attributable to coronavirus first occur before 2 April 2020 and continue on or after that date, no account can be taken of that matter with effect from 2 April 2020 onwards. That date aligns with the date from which the definition of material change of circumstances was clarified by the non-domestic rates Scotland Act 2020 to exclude changes in general economic circumstances. That is a hugely complex issue, and the outcome of any appeal is uncertain and may take years. It cannot be assumed that it would be successful or their outcome fair to those most affected. We are aware that a large number of large and multi-national firms that have been largely unaffected or potentially even successful during the pandemic made appeals against their properties after the outbreak of the pandemic. As the Federation of Small Businesses has pointed out, there are not many small businesses among those who have submitted an appeal. We want to ensure fairness among all rate pairs. We believe that the right time for market-wide economic changes to be reflected, including any effects of Covid-19, is at revaluation. The next revaluation is not far away. New values will come into effect on 1 April 2023, based on rental values on 1 April 2022. We chose to delay the revaluation by a year and bring forward the one-year tone date to allow time for the property market to adjust post Covid. The introduction of three-year revaluation cycles and a one-year tone date ensures that future valuations will be more closely aligned to current market values. Therefore, it should take account of any potential changes as a result of the pandemic. The bill does not apply to changes to the physical state of a property or whether a property should or should not be included in the valuation role, nor does it remove rate pairs right of appeal. It will be for appellants to decide whether they want to pursue or withdraw their Covid appeals. We have recently extended the disposal deadline for appeals by one year to 1 December 2023. The bill recognises that the bulk of appeals remain outstanding and that appellants may not feel that they are in a sufficiently informed position until Parliament has finished its scrutiny of the bill. The extended deadline will enable appellants who have made an appeal on Covid-19 grounds to make an informed decision about whether to pursue or withdraw their appeal once the Parliament has completed its scrutiny. We all know that Covid-19 had a major impact on the economy. In Government, we responded swiftly and on an unprecedented scale to support businesses through the pandemic when we needed it most. Businesses have benefited from over £4.7 billion of support from the Scottish Government since the start of the pandemic, including around £1.6 billion of Covid-related rates relief. We were the only Government in the UK to provide 100 per cent rates relief for retail, hospitality, leisure and aviation for the past two years. To help those businesses to get back on their feet and prevent a cliff-edge return to full liability, we continued retail, hospitality and leisure relief at 50 per cent for the first three months of 2022-23, capped at £27,500 per rate pair. The Covid-19 pandemic was unprecedented. Its impact could not have been anticipated and, while our economy is recovering, there are still challenges and issues arising from the pandemic that require our attention. On non-domestic rates, we did what we could with the powers that we had to ease the economic effects for many. Now we have had to act both to mitigate the impact of large volumes of appeals and to protect the public finances more generally. The bill maintains the integrity of the non-domestic rate system and the stability of public finances and will provide clarity, consistency and fairness to all rate pairs. On that, I move that the Parliament agrees that a non-domestic rates coronavirus Scotland bill will be passed. Deputy Presiding Officer, can I start by giving my best wishes to the cabinet secretary on her maternity leave? Nothing more to lighten this debate a bit more this afternoon, to be quite honest. I would also like to start by thanking the organisations that have contributed to the work of the local government, housing and planning committee, and I also thank our clerks for the work that they have done. The passage of the non-domestic rates Scotland bill has not been controversial and there has been quite rightly cross-party understanding on why the bill has been needed. We are all acutely aware of the significant impact that the pandemic has had on businesses and equally on the workload of assessors across Scotland and the significant and unsustainable backlog that has built up during the pandemic. As has already been stated, since the beginning of the pandemic there have been over 49,000 non-domestic rate appeals. That compares to a pre-pandemic level of around 5,700 lodged. Scottish Conservatives therefore accept the main principles behind the bill to extend the rule to cover both net annual value and rateable value and to cover the period back to April 2020. The date on which the Scottish Government amended the definition of the material change of circumstances to exclude changes in economic circumstances. As has been stated, and as I have mentioned at stage 1 and 2 of the bill, I think that this is a sensible measure to update Scotland's non-domestic rates and appeals system, as we have seen also take place in England and Wales to mitigate the impact of the pandemic that we have seen. The local government committee agreed that because of the level of scrutiny of the order, an extensive programme of evidence taking was not necessarily. During the passage of the bill, we have heard concerns from a number of key stakeholders, and I welcome the fact that the minister has engaged with them as well. Businesses operate in very different sectors of our economy. It is clear that we need to look at how we can improve the appeal system around their rate systems in the future. I believe that that work can be taken forward by the Government. I welcome the fact that the minister has also given assurances that the bill will not remove the right of appeal as well. That is important for many businesses, and that is a welcome step forward. I also welcome the extension of the disposable deadline of a further year to 31 December of this year. That is also something that was asked for and, importantly, has been accepted. The UK and Scottish Governments have provided unprecedented levels of support for Scottish businesses during the pandemic. For example, the provision of 100 per cent rates relief for all eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties. That is a huge amount of support, which has been very much welcome, but it is also the sectors that are already reporting that are not recovering at the levels that they thought. Just today, there were reports here in Edinburgh that bookings around accommodation for the festival are not where businesses thought they would be. We know that we are not out of the pandemic hangover yet for many Scottish businesses. The support that was provided was around £10 billion in 2020-21, and the support that was announced to extend that by another three months, followed by a nine-month period of relief at 66 per cent, is also very much welcomed by businesses. Taking together those support measures has been worth across Government £16 billion for the sectors. It is really worth reflecting on how both the Scottish and UK Government have stepped up during that pandemic period. During the consideration of the bill, I put on record number of my concerns about how support schemes have been administered and how we must learn lessons around that going forward as well. Businesses who are in very much the same fields but have been winners or losers when they have been able to access support, simply because they are in different council areas as well. It is clear that the processes that local councils have used have not been universal in many cases. I think that that is also coming out of this something that I hope assessors and also the Government will consider as well. We all hope that we will never face a similar situation again in a public health emergency, but certainly the learning that we can take from this has to be taken forward in this area as well. Turning to the important issue of support for businesses moving forward, Scottish retailers have called on Scottish ministers to permanently lower business rates in Scotland. Firms again in the sectors of retail, hospitality and leisure sectors want to see a fully exempt of non-domestic rates during the pandemic until the 30th of March. I welcome SNP ministers' extending rates for the first quarter of a financial year, but we need to consider additional support that could be made available to the sectors that are clearly not recovering at the levels that they would have. It is quite clear that the pandemic has also negatively impacted not only on our town centres, but on many rural communities as well. Local businesses that were thriving before Covid have indeed closed or are struggling to pay their bills or have seen how their business operates completely changed. That is also an area that we need to see significant consideration given to how businesses can adapt to what is very much a different environment now. As I have said, Scottish Conservatives have stated that we want to see the Scottish Government continue with business rates relief support. I would like to put that on record, but to conclude, Deputy Presiding Officer, Scottish Conservatives today will support the bill to update Scotland with non-domestic rates legislation and support the committee's recommendations as well. That legislation is indeed similar to what has been undertaken in both England and Wales, and is, I believe, the most straightforward way to sustain an already overwhelmed appeal system. As I say, Scottish Conservatives will support the bill at decision time. Thank you. Thank you very much indeed, Mr Briggs. I now call on Mark Griffin, who joins us remotely, Mr Griffin, for around five minutes, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Scottish Labour will be supporting this legislation at decision time this evening, as we did at stage 1 and stage 2. However, just as we did at previous stages of the bill's journey through Parliament, we would echo the local government housing and planning committee's concerns, and a number of stakeholders' concerns about the lack of formal consultation prior to the instruction of the secondary legislation. I do know what the minister has said at various stages about consultation with the sector. It is an on-going issue that he has and other ministers have worked on, but we would call on ministers to restate that an emission from formal consultation does not set a precedent for future legislation. Non-domestic rates, also known as business rates, are a form of property tax for businesses that help to pay for local council services The amount of tax that is paid is based on the rateable value of the property. The rateable value is based on comparable rental values in the years before the valuation takes place. As the minister said, rateable values are reviewed every few years. If passed, the bill will ensure that, from 2 April 2020 to 1 April 2021, the impact of Covid-19 cannot be used when determining the rateable value of a non-domestic property unless it has resulted in a change to the physical rate of the property. The local government housing and planning committee has already looked at the issues raised in the bill when we looked at the valuation and rating coronavirus in Scotland order 2021. In order, the same thing as the bill covers the periods from 1 April 2021 onwards. We supported the order committee and, as the minister, Armyll Biggs, has mentioned, the Welsh and UK Governments have made the same change across the rest of the UK. We absolutely accept that allowing consideration of a large volume of appeals would have significant workload implications for the assessors and for valuation committees. I would highlight assessors' concerns about potential litigation for appeals relating to the two weeks prior to 2 April 2020, but I would also flag general concerns around assessors' workload and evidence that we did here at committee. The stakeholders have also expressed fears that this policy decision sets are precedent in terms of retrospective changes to tax policy. We plan to hold the Government to its assurance that the principles of certainty and engagement would underpin any future non-domestic rates policies. However, the Government could do more to support our towns and high streets through Scotland's local tax system. We have heard from the FSB and others that we have lost almost 20,000 small businesses during a single year of the Covid crisis, and many more will surely follow if the Government does not adequately support small businesses through the recovery phase. We have repeatedly called for retail hospitality and leisure properties in Scotland to be in receipt of the same 50 per cent rates relief offered to businesses in England this financial year. We have also called on the Scottish Government to level up the business rates imposed on large warehouses by the majority of online retailers to reduce the rates paid by bricks and mortar stores from 2022-23 for supporting our high street, as was mentioned by Miles Briggs in his earlier comments. Aside from some concerns around the process, we welcome the bill and will support it passing at decision time this evening. I look forward to a more wide-ranging debate on how to use the non-domestic rates system to support our high streets and struggling businesses. Thank you very much indeed, Mr Griffin. We now move to the open debate, and I call Willie Coffey for around four minutes. Thank you again for the opportunity to say a few words in support of the bill and to note that there have been no further amendments proposed for the stage 3 consideration. Indeed, stage 2 amendments were minor, and our committee supported it unanimously. It is only a few weeks ago that I recall speaking in the stage 1 debate, and it is worth reminding ourselves that the purpose of the bill is fairly straightforward. It is to ensure fairness for all Scottish rate pairs, and in so doing it protects the integrity of the non-domestic rating system from wholesale changes and numerous appeals that could take place otherwise. The bill proposes that the effects of Covid cannot be used as a factor when considering a property's rateable value and would not be admissible in terms of material changes of circumstances or MCCs. That is in line with what is being done on our neighbouring jurisdictions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and that has been mentioned by a few members already. If that were not the case, Scotland alone would have to be bearing the possible losses if the bill did not pass today. I think that one colleague noted that the MCC route can still be deployed, but only in relation to physical changes to a property or if some other major change can be demonstrated. The route is still open for those types of appeals, but not on the basis of Covid impacts. The prospect of a huge number of Covid-related appeals coming in probably filled the assessors and us with dread, but the serious point of having to deal with that and the potential impact it could have in local government finances just could not be overlooked. The bill takes care of that issue by providing those much sought-after commodities of clarity and consistency of purpose in lawmaking. We must not forget the comments made by the Federation of Small Businesses as we progress the bill. It reminded us that not too many of our smaller businesses would likely be among the number of appellants. They often do not have the resources or the time to lodge appeals, so the risk could be that we could create an imbalance in those who lodge and perhaps might be successful in their appeals, usually by larger corporates and supermarkets, who might be argued did much better during the Covid period than the small business sector did. The consequence of that could be that MCC appeals might target support to those areas that need it the least. I think that the committee was agreed on that point and I think that members are today. Since the start of the pandemic, I understand that over 40,000 non-domestic properties have appealed on the basis of MCCs. If those were to go through, it could significantly reduce the level of public finance coming into support local services, not to mention the impact that the process would have on getting through that volume of work. The financial memorandum attached to the bill sets out how this impact will help to avoid that significant level of risk. A couple of issues were raised during the local government committee's work in the bill about whether sufficient consultation had taken place for stakeholders. I think that the minister was clear in his original remarks and he stated that at the committee that he announced his intention a full year ago in June 2021 and that extensive consultation had taken place. It is recognised that the Scottish Government had to act quickly to get financial help out to businesses in Scotland and, by and large, that was successful and a much needed source of support. The bill simply provides the clarity and assurances that are necessary to maintain public services and ensure that levels of finance that are needed to deliver them are stable. It maintains our aspiration to deliver a fairer country, building on the integrity of our non-domestic rating system and to protect the revenues of our local authorities at this crucial time. I am happy to support the bill now at stage 3. I look forward to the remaining contributions from other members as we conclude our consideration of it today. Thank you. Thank you very much indeed, Mr Coffey. That neatly concludes the opening debate. We move to closing speeches in the call. Alec Rowley, for around four minutes, Mr Rowley. Thank you, Presiding Officer. There is unanimous support for this bill in recognition of what it aims to achieve, so there is not a lot more to add to that. I will take the opportunity to talk perhaps a bit about businesses. The Mel's Briggs spoke off the support for businesses from the UK and Scottish Governments during the Covid outbreak. There is no doubt that businesses have suffered. According to the business in the Scotland statistical release between March 20 and 21, it is estimated that the number of businesses in Scotland fell by 19,805, a drop of 5.4 per cent. That is a worry. The FSB says that this trend implies that the crisis has been particularly difficult for self-employed and new start businesses. However, Scotland also saw a decline in registered businesses over the same period, with 790 of those firms lost. It is clear that businesses are still facing huge financial uncertainties. Parts of the economy have experienced two or even three rounds of closures, and every round of restrictions leaves businesses with smaller cash reserves, increased debt and a lot of uncertainty. Businesses still need as much support as they can get in order to help to rebuild Scotland's economy. Retail, hospitality and leisure properties will be in receipt of 50 per cent rates relief up to the maximum of 110,000 in England and Wales in order to support these sectors in their road to recovery from the impacts of the pandemic. Perhaps I could ask the minister to look at the fact that the Government in Scotland is only offering three months of half-race. That is why the Scottish Labour believes that it is fair that we try to support businesses further and look at how we can do so and provide similar support to prevent economic disadvantage and ensure that they can help to rebuild Scotland's economy. The minister also has the privilege of wearing the planning hat, and we know the pressures are not just about Covid. Out-of-town shopping centres for many years were supported by local planning authorities, and we can see the impact that they have had online shopping. But the point is that for town centres where people have to choose to go park their car, often have to pay for parking, it is not as easy as it is to just drive into a large out-of-town shopping centre and park your car, walk to the shop and get your shop in. So we do need to rethink, I think, an opportunity here. The other point I made at stage one that I would make again is that it turns off the valuations for small businesses. Many small businesses that I dealt with at the last valuation, where they were putting appeals in, found it very difficult to understand why they had a certain rateable value, but I pinned on to them the comparison between other towns where there were larger shops, larger premises, and at one point I was even told that because the shop was on a busy street that led to higher rates. But the fact that no cars could actually stop because there was no parking on that busy street just did not add up. So I think that it is important that we can bring greater transparency to revaluation when we should do so. I am certainly keen to work with the minister to look at town centres because as he will be aware, in Fife and across Mid-Scotland in Fife, there are real issues about town centres in the future. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Thank you very much indeed, Mr Riley. I now call on Douglas Lumsden for a very generous five minutes, Mr Lumsden. Thank you for being so generous, Presiding Officer. Non-domestic rates continue to be one of the biggest issues for our local authorities, especially in the north-east. I have met many local businesses to speak to them and understand the issues that they are facing. As my colleagues have mentioned, we are supportive of the bill and its mirroring of what has happened in the rest of the UK. It is a sensible measure to update the non-domestic rates appeals system. However, a much wider reform is needed, and we will continue to press the Government to meet with business leaders to discuss further reforms that are required. The bill, while welcome, falls short of the help that thousands of businesses need due to a failed system. During the debate in April, I pointed out that, in 2017, businesses in the north-east faced huge increases in their rates bills. The valuation was assessed at the peak of the oil and gas activity, only for the new bills to arrive, just as the sector faced one of its biggest slumps. The courts ruled that there had been no material change in circumstance, and businesses would have to wait for the revaluation to take place. Then that was delayed by a year because of Covid. Despite calls from many business leaders, that date has been brought forward. As the minister pointed out, earlier revaluation was the time for the market to be fixed. The delay was so disappointing for those businesses that were waiting. We continue to have the situation in which the non-domestic rates income from businesses in Aberdeen is more than that from businesses in Edinburgh, for example, a city with twice the population. Many businesses in the north-east simply cannot believe that that is the case. The Scottish Fiscal Commission, which was released last month, gave some worrying news to businesses up and down Scotland. It showed that non-domestic rate income was set to increase by 30 per cent over the next five years from £2.7 billion to £3.6 billion at a time when growth is minimal, with many left wondering where the extra £900 million will be coming from. The forecast also showed that some businesses voluntarily handed back Covid business rate relief funds last year to the tune of £126 million. That was the right thing to do for places such as Asda, Sainsbury and Boots, which seemed to have seen their income increase. Some might have thought that this cash would go to local authorities to help struggling businesses on the high street, or that the cash could have been used to plug some of the non-domestic rates overdraft, but no. Instead, the devolved SNP Government simply used it to plug other holes in its budget. It was business rate support funds and should have been used just for that. I welcome the contributions today from members across the chamber. First, I would like to agree with Miles Briggs and send the cabinet secretary my best wishes for what I am sure will be a busy and joyful summer. Miles also mentioned the right to appeal not being removed, and we, of course, welcome that. He also mentions the support, but for me, that support just masks a failing system. Town centres was also mentioned by Miles Briggs and Alex Rowley. Town centres have faced difficulties over the past few years. We have an opportunity, I feel, to try to fix some of those things with a new system. He also asked for greater transparency over the appeal system, which I think would be welcomed by so many. Mark Griffin also mentioned warehouses that are used by online retailers who pay very little in terms of non-domestic rates compared with others. That highlights the change that is needed. The current system of business rates is outdated and we need to look at much greater and broader reform. We have seen our high streets and our local towns and villages struggle for years before the pandemic and right through it. We have to look at our local businesses and work with them to develop a system of rates that works for them and encourages growth. We need to put the voices of business at the heart of our policymaking, and I do not see much of that from the SNP-Green devolved Government. While I welcome the aims and outcomes of the Barclay review, many have viewed its remit as too tight and not wide-ranging enough to give the freedom to look at the full picture. We welcome the bill as a first small step, but more needs to be done. The Scottish Government has the powers. It now needs to stop sitting on its hands and use them. Mr Lumsden, I call on the minister to wind up the debate. Mr Arthur, I would be grateful if you could take us up to just before five o'clock. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I begin by thanking colleagues for their contributions in the debate. They are also using the opportunity, given the consensual tone, to offer their views on matters pertaining to non-domestic rates and other issues around my portfolio more widely. I will seek to address some of those points in my closing remarks. First, I want to turn to the specific contribution from Mark Griffin, in which he asked for me to reiterate on behalf of the Government our commitment to consultation and engagement and to provide certainty to be consistent with our framework for tax principles. I want to take the opportunity to do so. As I made reference to during my committee appearance and stage 1 debate, legislation responding to the circumstances of the pandemic is responding to exceptional circumstances, but we have set out very clearly in the framework for tax, which we published last December, the approach that we will take to decisions on taxation. I think that that can provide a useful framework, not just for decisions that the Government takes, but for people in this Parliament more widely and indeed for stakeholders in engaging with ideas around how we can reform and improve our tax system within Scotland. There were specific points regarding the appeals process, which I think Miles Briggs had raised, and I would want to recognise that we are obviously going to be transferring to new tribunal system from the facts at the start of next year. I would also want to recognise as well the point that Miles Briggs made that the response from the Scottish Government and indeed the UK Government was unprecedented and was perhaps absolutely required in supporting business. I recognise that there are calls for further support. Members will recognise that our budget is fully committed for this year, but any further business support that becomes available from the UK Government in the future and results in barmit consequentials, we will of course carefully consider how that can be used to support business more widely. The issue of town centres was touched upon and Mr Rowley made reference to the planning system, as members will be aware. We are currently in the process of considering the extensive responses that we received to our public consultation on draft national planning framework 4 and the parliamentary scrutiny. I would want to reiterate and make it clear that I am happy to meet with any member of this chamber. I already had the opportunity to engage with some members directly, but I want to be clear that I am very happy to meet any member of this chamber over the coming weeks and over the summer to discuss the national planning framework for draft national planning framework 4. That is an opportunity to be the biggest change and shift in planning policy. Perhaps since the Town and Country Planning Scotland Act was passed in 1947, planning will be absolutely essential to meeting our ambitions, both for net reductions by 2030 and by 2045. Our report would want to recognise that our town centres face many challenges. Town centres can also provide solutions to many of our problems. We want to see more 20-minute neighbourhoods. We want to see more diverse and thriving town centres, strong regional economies, building community wealth. I am keen to look at how the non-domestic rate system can play a part in ensuring that I take the points that members have made on that very seriously. Of course, we have the small business bonus scheme, the most generous scheme anywhere in the UK, which has taken and is taking 111,000 properties out of rates altogether. It is something that has been noted by the Federation for Small Businesses as having been a lifeline for many firms. It is essential that we continue to ensure that we support businesses the best way we can. That is why we commissioned the Fraser of Allander to carry out an evaluation, and we very much welcome their report. In response to that report, we are convening a short-look term working group who will consider in particular the recommendations from that report on collecting information to enable more robust assessment of the small business bonus scheme possible in the future. I am happy to confirm that the group will meet for the first time at the end of this month. As I said during my opening statement, Covid-19 was unprecedented. We know that it was challenging for businesses and that every decision that the Scottish Government has taken has centred on ensuring that our businesses and communities got the support that we needed when we needed it. The intention of this bill is to maintain non-domestic rates as a credible and robust system of taxation and to deliver fairness for all rate pairs. The material change of circumstances provisions are not the right mechanisms for rate pairs to seek reductions in rateable values due to the effect of Covid-19, and we made that clear as early as June last year, as Mr Coffey noted in his remarks. The bill makes it clear that, when calculating rateable value properties in the current valuation role—that is the 2017 valuation role—no account can be taken of any matter occurring on or after secondary till 2020 that is directly or indirectly attributable to Covid-19. That corresponds to the date that we excluded changes in general economic circumstances from the definition of material change of circumstances and is also consistent with the approach that is taken across the UK. At the next revaluation in April 2023, all relevant market-wide economic changes to rateable value will be considered across all rateable properties. That is the appropriate manner in which any effect of Covid-19 on the property markets should be reflected. We have strengthened revaluations following the independent bark review of non-domestic rates to ensure that they more closely reflect market circumstances. As mentioned in my opening remarks, the frequency of the revaluation cycle is now three years. The time between the tone date and the revaluation is reduced to one year, and we have delayed the revaluation by one year. Those changes have been broadly welcomed by the business community in Scotland. To ensure that valuations are better understood and more transparent for rate pairs, a point raised by Alex Rowley, we have also taken steps to acquire the publication of a draft valuation role on 30 November and the inclusion of additional information for a large share of properties that will indicate the rental information used to calculate the basic valuation rate. We are committed to making non-domestic property valuation more transparent and intelligible and will explore how more property classes and information might be covered in subsequent revaluations. Transparency, certainty, consistency and fairness are all essential features of a non-domestic rate system in Scotland, which this bill supports and delivers. I hope, therefore, that Parliament will pass the bill today. That concludes the stage 3 debate on non-domestic rates coronavirus Scotland. It is now time to move on to the next item of business, which is consideration of business motion 5141, in the name of George Adam, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau on changes to this week's business. Any member who wishes to speak against the motion should press their request to speak button now. I call on George Adam to move the motion. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I'm moved. Thank you, Minister. No member has asked to speak against the motion. Therefore, the question is that motion 5141 be agreed. Are we all agreed? Yes. The motion is therefore agreed, and I am minded to accept a motion without notice under rule 11.2.4 of standing orders that decision time be brought forward to now, and I invite the Minister for Parliamentary Business to move the motion. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I'm moved. Thank you, and the question is that decision time be brought forward to now. Are we all agreed? Yes. We are, and there are two questions to be put as a result of today's business. The first is that motion 5098, in the name of Neil Gray, on World Refugee Day, welcoming and supporting refugees in Scotland's communities, be agreed. Are we all agreed? Yes. The motion is therefore agreed. The final question is that motion 5095, in the name of Tom Arthur, on non-domestic rates coronavirus Scotland Bill at stage 3, be agreed, and members should cast their votes now. We will have a short suspension to allow members to access the digital voting system. Yes.