 The final item of business today is the member's business debate on motion number 10420, in the name of Gordon MacDonald, on celebrating the contribution of independent retailers to the Scottish economy. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would be grateful if those members who wish to speak in the debate could press the request to speak buttons now, please. Before I begin, I would like to thank John Lee of the Scottish Grocers Federation for his assistance, and I also welcome those convenience store owners who are in the gallery. The independent convenience store sector has been a cornerstone of all of our local communities for generations. Wether it's a pint of milk in a newspaper in the morning or a few messages on your way home from work, they are open, ready to serve from early in the morning to late at night in every city, town, rural and island community across Scotland. Indeed, Scotland has more convenience stores per head of the population than any other part of the UK employing over 41,000 people. To put that into context, that is more people than the combined total employment provided in the agriculture, forestry and fishing, or indeed in the motor trade in Scotland. It's not just the direct employment that local shopkeepers provide but also their contractors and suppliers. The vast majority of convenience stores are owned and operated by small business owners, and because they are part of the local community, they tend to use local contractors and suppliers. Research by the Scottish Grocers Federation identified that a typical convenience store reinvests £1.25 million into the local economy by using local tradesmen, local produce suppliers, local shop fitters, local garages, as well as local legal and accountancy firms. As a result, convenience stores are also, I believe, one of the cornerstones of a community in the same way as the primary school, the community centre, the post office and the pub. Their presence in a village, town or in a neighbourhood helps to support that community. In addition, many corner shops provide a range of services from a cash machine, bill payment service, home delivery or even just a notice board. It all helps to sustain that local community. All is not well in the convenience store sector, especially among those family owned businesses, as there are two main issues affecting them. The growth of the big four supermarket convenience store network and the resultant over provision in grocery stores. The decision by the large supermarket chains to move into the convenience store sector in Scotland has put pressure on small independence. In the current economic climate, customers' income, in many cases, has not kept pace with inflation. The outcome is that the available spend in an area is spread more thinly across all the retailers, resulting in the viability of some stores to be questioned. The expansion by the big four supermarket chains into convenience stores is not just detrimental to small independent shopkeepers but other small businesses, as these large conglomerates tend to have national contracts for maintenance, servicing and international suppliers, resulting in the loss of local economic benefit generated by having a locally owned store. The other issue that I mentioned is over provision of grocery stores, and I will use an example from my constituency to highlight the potential problems. Along the stretch of the B701 from Oxcang's Road north to Collington Main's Drive, there are two large supermarkets, one multiple convenience store operator and three independently owned convenience stores in a distance of just over a mile in length. An area of my constituency that most people would consider as being well served by grocery stores has healthy competition and choice. However, the council has decided, along with its partner, to sell land previously occupied by a social work building in a church to a major grocery discount store operator. The local community are split. Many families would welcome the discount, while others have signed a petition opposing the building of yet another supermarket. The reason for doing so includes the effect of increased traffic congesting, resulting in additional traffic noise and deteriorating air quality, plus the effect on existing employment and ultimately possible store closures. There is also disappointment within the local community that the land has not been designated for housing as there is unmet demand for new housing in the area. Many members of the now closed St John's Church were under the impression that the land would be used for much-needed housing. Now they find a potential licence premise will be on the previous church ground in an area where there already exists eight licence premises. It is times like this that the city planners have to take a step back and ask themselves whether the location of another supermarket is in the best interest of the whole community. In doing so, council officials should examine the job creation claims and whether those employment opportunities are really new posts or simply displaced employment from other existing operators who need to downsize their operation to meet the reduced revenue. I study by the UK Retail Trade Association ACS titled Job creation claims and new supermarket retail developments found that in many instances the claims of jobs created simply represented a headcount. Part-time posts make up 49 per cent of all retail opportunities and therefore the actual full-time equivalent jobs will be in most cases substantially lower than that. If the new supermarket is giving the go-ahead, my concern is for the survival of all three small independent stores and possibly the reduced employment opportunities provided by the existing supermarket operators. The convenience store sector, unlike the large supermarket chains, does not have reserves that allow them to trade at a loss for a prolonged period of time. Since 2008, many small businesses experienced difficult trading circumstances and it was the introduction of the Scottish Government's small business bonus scheme that assisted them. Across Scotland, 92,000 small businesses, many of them owners of local convenience stores have had their rates abolished or substantially reduced. However, it is not just about existing businesses. We need to make our shopping areas more attractive, offering a wider and more diverse mix of high street businesses. We need to encourage younger entrepreneurs to create new businesses, making use of the premises that are currently vacant in our towns and centres, town centres and neighbourhood shopping areas. A more diverse high street or shopping area will generate a higher footfall that should benefit all businesses in the area. The Carnegie Trust has developed a number of retail initiatives from pop-up retail festivals to a town's characteristic online toolkit. It stated in its briefing that, for many towns, the contribution of independent retailers is a crucial factor in the long-term sustainability, diversity and vibrancy of high streets. The sustainable diversity and vibrancy can only be achieved if everyone involved in developing our towns and cities recognises the importance of the contribution that is made by the independent convenience store sector to our economy and understands the importance of sustaining it. I was expecting a couple more minutes as I write down my notes because I just decided at the very last minute to step in. Independent stores actually play a very, very important part in the local economy throughout the country. I was thinking about it. People at my dad retired people. My dad used to go along to the local shop for his newspapers, his milk, his pension and also became a social event because he got to know personally that retailer. When you think about it, other people in the same circumstances as my dad, that might have been the only person that that person spoke to the whole day, so it's really, really important that retailers really play a very, very important part in social communication with individuals. Also, from the economy point of view for retailers or independent retailers, they're under a lot of pressure just now because of the economy and they have been struggling to survive. Things like parking can actually hinder their sales as well, which is quite a problem. Also, as I said before, they're struggling with the big multinational chains, which do provide a service but don't provide a personal service, which is very, very important. The local retailers, coming back to my previous life as a trainer, provide employment for a lot of young people as well. They were at the forefront and at the forefront of delivering the modern apprenticeship programmes and take an active part in the modern apprenticeship programmes and see the benefit of it. That's really important as well. I'm also the convener of the Towns and Town Centre Cross Party Group. I'm hoping that the Government will look at more initiatives and local authorities, look at what they can do to preserve those businesses and help them to survive. So, in winding up my very short speech, hopefully I'll ask the Scottish Government just now what can they actually do to help those local businesses. We're looking for more support for them in the way of training and also to help to look at how can you tackle the red tape that hinders these businesses to actually survive and develop their businesses. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Many thanks. I now call Chick Brody to be followed by Gavin Brown. Thank you, Presiding Officer. May I thank Gordon MacDonald for bringing his debate to Parliament this evening. I echo his sentiments, read the contribution made by our food clothing and services retailers. It's right that we celebrate the contribution of our independence convenience source retailers, often the Cinderella of our focused sectors as part of retail in our national economic strategy. Strong independent businesses have a vital role to play in the future, not just of our high streets, as Gordon mentioned, but if they're strong and well managed, they can attract new business and grow into more medium-sized operations. As a whole, the retail sector employs 255,000 jobs, 41,000 in this particular area. It is a very large private sector employer employing 14 per cent of a non-government workforce. Our retailers have had a difficult few years with the recession. Small and medium retail businesses, particularly the independent convenience stores, have seen a decline in sales volumes from 2008 until the first half of 2012, and there has been some limited growth since 2012. On a wider scale, the success and the feed-through in the leakage from the spending of recent Commonwealth games has reflected, I believe, in the fruit fall figures and the flow of business that embraces small independent operations. I want to praise the efforts of the retail sector that has tempted shoppers with not just keen prices and promotions, but with providing best value and customer service quality. The challenge, of course, is to maintain growth and ensure that we gain long-term benefits from the sector. There has also been the challenge to the convenience stores of the out-of-town supermarket developments in the past few years. However, I am told, in fact, in discussions that I have had with Lee Sparks, that the supermarkets seem to be re-appraising their investment strategies with supermarkets looking at town centre investment. That will provide the independence with new challenges to be confronted. The Scottish Government has recognised the importance of our retail in its town centre review, which included sectors to experts from all over the country, including some smaller representation of smaller independent units. We are looking at sharing resources and services, how we develop creativity and enterprise, and generally contributing to the health of our town centres. All of that is key. It is stated in that review that the Scottish Government and local authorities needed to recognise and prioritise the importance of town centres for sustainable economic growth. The light blood of that flows naturally from the independent convenience stores. We need to ensure that the retail sector, in all its dimensions, is seen to offer a good career path. To do so, we need to work with all the schools, development providers, our colleges and our employers, securing an aspiration for those who would like to be involved in retail and start at the bottom, if you like, working with independent convenience stores through the creation of the industry. The appropriate apprenticeships. Our independent retail plays a vital role in the success of our high streets. The town centre review group has made a great start in supporting the sector. The challenges remain. We must embrace those who know how to run independent convenience stores, and there are great opportunities to grow that particular sector. I thank the Scottish Grocer Federation, the National Federation of Retail News Agents and the Carnegie Trust for their very helpful briefings, which many members will have taken advantage of in preparing for this debate. We are right to talk about the enormous contribution made to the economy by independent retailers. Some figures have been put out there already, but they are worth repeating. 41,000 people across Scotland employed in the sector, 5,500 stores. Most importantly, there is a multiplier effect from those stores. We heard about the stats of investment in stores, but that leads on to local trades, shop fitters and suppliers around the local area. It is a matter of fact that a far higher percentage of each pound spent by any local retailer circulates back to the local economy when you compare it to an out-of-town centre or to online. Margaret McCulloch touched on that point too, but I do not know whether that is by accident or by design, but it is remarkable that the number of people who get their very first job, their very first opportunity on the employment ladder in some kind of independent retailer—again, that is something that ought to be recognised and applauded. They contribute nationally and locally, but they are also more than that. They are also a local community hub wherever they happen to be located. We heard in the briefings about the in-store post offices, the ATMs and the bill payment services, and some of Gordon MacDonald touched on the fact that they become, in many cases, the main source of advertising for the local community. If you want to find out when the gala day is and what is happening, if you want to find out who are the best local suppliers to speak to for whatever trade, if you want to find out what classes or training events are on, your local retailer is very often the first port of call and also the best port of call. Many of them might know that they do this for free, but even those that charge do so at very reasonable and very, very fair rates. Also, while I have no scientific evidence to back this up—only personal experience—those who own and operate independent retailers in their community are far more likely, in my experience, to either be involved in or, indeed, to run their local community council. So, when you wrap all that together, they genuinely give back in a way that many other businesses either do not or do so far less. Some of the challenges that the sector faces have been touched upon, but there are others that have not been mentioned yet, and I will take time to do that just now. In terms of the challenges that are mentioned by businesses, business rates are very near the top of the pile. The Scottish Government should be applauded for the small business bonus. We supported it from day one, we encouraged it to accelerate it and it has, I think, been a resounding success. The question for the minister, the question for all of us now, is where next with the small business bonus? Can we raise the thresholds so that more local retailers come in underneath the threshold and actually benefit from it? Can we have more of a stepped system so that if you are just above it, you do not miss out entirely? You still get some benefit from the small business bonus. Is there something that we can do to slow down the rises in business rates? I do not offer all the answers, but I think that there are questions that all of us have to think about. In terms of regulation, Deputy Presiding Officer, I know that this is something that the minister has formed on, particularly in his previous role, but they have been hit retailers by tobacco, alcohol and environmental burdens. Some businesses are hit by one of them. Many independent retailers have been hit by all three over a fairly short space of time. Is there something that we can do to reduce the burden of regulation on them? It is more difficult to apply to regulation or to comply with regulations as a smaller business, as compared to a far larger one. Can we do more in closing, Deputy Presiding Officer, to help them on the issue of illicit trade? Something where the Scottish Grosses Federation hosted an excellent session within the Parliament just a couple of months ago. Illicit trade damages legitimate businesses, harms consumers and helps those who are trying to get round the rules. Any of those issues that can be touched upon by the minister will be gratefully received. I would like to congratulate my colleague, Gordon MacDonald, on securing today's debate. The benefits of convenience stores in Scotland are many, as we have heard already in the debate. The boost employment allows people to start up and develop their own business, enhance the Scottish economy and serve local communities. In Scotland now has more convenience stores per head of population than in the other part of the UK, with one shop per 949 people. They are indeed the lifeblood of many of our communities, and convenience stores employ approximately 1.6 per cent of the Scottish working population. The benefit of independent stores to ethnic minorities is greater than for any other group, as 60 per cent of Chinese and 70 per cent of Pakistanis live in Scotland work in small businesses. Asians make up only 2.7 per cent of the Scottish population but are a vital asset to the independent convenience store sector. Many independent convenience stores are family businesses, and of those, almost two thirds employ at least one other family member. Independent convenience stores, through hard work of the owners and staff, contribute to economic growth. Industry body IGD has said that the value of the convenience sector across the UK will grow from £35.6 billion in 2013 to £46.2 billion by 2013. That is also reinforced by the fact that, despite an increase in the number of other retail sector shop closures, convenience stores have not followed the same trend with growth in the number of shop openings during January to March 2014 of 10 per cent. Convenience stores contribute to local economy. It is important to reiterate what has already been said by previous speakers, including Gavin Brown and Mr MacDonald. They contribute to local economy by using local tradesmen, produce suppliers, shop fitters, garages, legal and accountancy firms. Added services and facilities may be a crucial reason as to why the sector is growing. They are very fleet on foot on their feet. With developments such as the introduction of click and collect, courier delivery and online shopping return services and secure ETMs, footfall will hopefully increase. Independent convenience stores are run primarily by their owners. One-third of women, one in 10, are under 30, whilst one per cent are over 60. One in five have been in business for less than half a decade. One in five of those owners are more than one shop. Clearly, a vast range of people are able to operate and develop their own store, thus demonstrating business opportunities in the sector. More than three quarters of owners are the first generation of their family to own or own a business, creating sustainable jobs for generations of families as well as others in their community. It is, of course, no easy life, and many hours of service have to be dedicated to ensuring customer access for the optimum number of hours and the reasonable footfalls essential to any kind of living, let alone a good one. Many consumers appreciate the importance of supporting their local businesses, not just because of proximity. Consumer trust in local shops continues to be consistently higher than, for example, in supermarkets. A survey of more than 7,800 shops run by independent and corporate retailers reported that, despite competition among major supermarkets, local shops are as important to the community as the bobby on the beat. Customers become familiar with the staff, as has been pointed out by Margaret McCulloch. Often people also meet there for a wee bit of anata and a gossip, and many people are attracted by the range and flexibility of the stock in which local convenience stores can get in. The aid development growth in areas such as employment and economy have a very positive impact. They are a vital community asset and enhance community resilience, social and economic wellbeing, the social value of enterprise and innovation and the importance to the town and village shops. The fabric of Scotland cannot be underestimated, but, as we have heard, there are storm crowds on the horizon. Profits are being squeezed. We have increased costs at this time, from energy costs to the cost of basic produce. Challenging times for all people in society can be very difficult for shop owners to pass on all increased costs to customers. I believe, as Mr Brown has said, that we should look further where possible to reduce the rates burden. The small business bonus scheme has been a tremendous success. We know that the Small Business Federation has said that one in six shops went down the stank during the recession without it, but we look to see how we can move on from there. I reiterate what Gavin has said with regard to the issue of smuggling. We need to take more action to ensure that this does not impact more on the profitability of our small business store sector. I now invite Fergus Ewing to respond to the debate minister in seven minutes, if possible. I am very grateful to Gordon MacDonald for bringing this debate before us this evening, covering a matter of huge importance in every part of Scotland. I am very grateful for the contributions of all members across the chamber and different parties, recognising the significant role that independent retailers play in the economy. That is a very large role, and the retail sector has been quite resilient during the recession. It did not use the technical expression that Mr Gibson brought to the proceedings that go down the stank. It managed to overcome the buffeting of the recession very well. I am quite sure that that is in part because of the hard work, the effort that managers' owners of independent businesses brought to bear to ensure that they were offering an efficient, friendly, effective service, providing goods, fresh food and a variety of grocery products that people want throughout the country, giving people what they want and running the businesses well on a family basis. I used to be one of them, as opposed to being a politician, on a different context. As someone who was a small business person, I remember the pleasures and anxieties of running a business. Being responsible for the livelihood of a great many other people is a burden to bear. However, one that the independent retailers do extremely well in Scotland, as the figures show and the employment in the sector, as has been pointed out, is substantial indeed. Of course, there are challenges in facing all businesses in Scotland, and the burden of taxation is one of them. Various members, starting off with Gordon MacDonald, mentioned business rates, and Gavin Brown particularly mentioned that. We are pleased that, first of all, we reinstated the uniform business rate when we came into office in 2007 and we did that in 2008. That ended an extra overtaxation of up to eight or nine per cent, I believe the figure was, and that made a contribution since then. I am very pleased that we have had a measure of cross-party support for our introduction of the small business bonus, which now assists over 92,000 businesses, two in five premises. Mr Brown puts his points very reasonably, suggesting that we would like to do more. We would like to do more. There is no question about that. That applies across the board, because the regret many businesses for whom business rates is a significant burden. It has to be paid irrespective of turnover. It is a fixed sum based on the notional rental or the rateable value. That is a large and looming burden in running a business. I should say, out of fairness and particularly since we know that there are some of the independent retailers in the gallery, that I would be somewhat pleasantly surprised if the independent retailers were eligible for the small business bonus to be quite candid about that. That is because they are for the smallest businesses and 92,002 out of five receive that benefit. Mr Brown said, could we raise the thresholds and what about stepping? As far as the thresholds is concerned, on 11 December, John Swinney announced an expansion of the business bonus by increasing the upper threshold for businesses with multiple properties from 25,000 to 35,000. That was estimated to extend the benefit to over 4,000 additional eligible properties for the lifetime of this Parliament. We also have more generous provision with regard to empty relief than south of the border. Mr Mackay has introduced a new incentive fresh start relief, 50 per cent for 12 months, when some long-term empty property shops and offices become newly occupied. That would affect perhaps a small number of businesses but is there nonetheless to encourage and promote additional economic activity in the retail sector. Reference was made to regulation. Red tape was one of the references that the Scottish Government brought in. I was the pilot of this, the regulatory reform Scotland bill, which will make all public bodies subject to the duty of considering the economic impact of what they do. That general principle is one whose introduction was long overdue. It is not yet in force but we expect regulators in particular to act as though it were in force right now. That means that when taking decisions, public bodies must take account of the economic impact, how they affect existing businesses. We must actively seek to ascertain how decisions they take will affect businesses. In town centre planning, my colleague Janet Mackay in July with COSLA announced the town centre first principle. Perhaps reflecting some of the remarks that Mr MacDonald made about supermarkets, the recognition of the town centre first principle acknowledges that in some town centres things are very difficult indeed. Empty shops, a great deal of charity shops and perhaps a lack of choice to individuals in many towns throughout the country. I am not going to name them all but I think that this is a tendency that we have noticed and therefore the town centre first principle I think is a recognition and principle that we need to redress the balance against perhaps the dominance of the supermarkets as was mentioned by a great many speakers. Of course, my colleague Mackay mentioned new initiatives and we have had the small business bonus, the empty relief, the fresh start relief, we have got the business improvement districts, the town centre first principles. In one sense I suspect that for those in business here most of those are in practical day-to-day terms probably not of much relevance. And also those in business do not really expect or want government to come along with an occasional check abung a grant. That's not really what businesses want. They don't want initiatives where there are handouts. They expect to run profitably, to run the show themselves and to offer a good service to their customers and thereby make a decent living out of that and to look after their staff well and provide appropriate training. They're not looking for initiatives in the sense of handouts and I'm sure that wasn't what was suggested. But of course we are very keen in the Scottish government to work with the representative bodies as reference was made to the grossers federation representatives of news agents and also the Scottish retail consortium and I therefore do with my colleagues seek to have close relations with them and that is something that I will continue to do. And to the independent retailers and their sector in general I would say that I have worked with individual businesses not least in my constituency to help them get access to other services to become a post office to retain their lottery outlet for example and other matters of that sort. But if there are general matters or initiatives or measures which are creating barriers to success that are identified by independent retailers then I would be extremely happy to work with their representatives to that end and I'm grateful that Mr McDonald has given me the opportunity clearly to make that pledge. I also represent the initiatives that have been taken by the Scottish grossers federation recently in terms of healthy living and healthy food which we very much welcome. We've covered quite a wide range of topics this evening but I think that most important of all we've all of us across the different parties expressed our support, our appreciation for the economic, the practical and also the social, as Mary McCulloch said, function that smaller shops, independent shops do competing against megaliths, dominant supermarkets who have different practices and purchasing practices. And therefore find it from time to time difficult to compete in that way but nonetheless by their personal, local, effective, high quality service have proven to be very resilient in hard times and the message from all of us is long may that continue.