 Thank you very much, cabinet secretary. That concludes that item of business, and we move on to the next item of business, which is a statement from Tom Arthur on Scotland's retail sector. The minister will take questions at the end of his statement, and so there should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on the minister for around 10 minutes, Mr Arthur. Thank you, Presiding Officer. There are less than two months to go until Christmas. The run-up to the festive season is the most critical trading period of the year for retail. The impact of the pandemic on the sector has been enormous. It has changed the way staff work and businesses operate. For some businesses, this Christmas could mean make or break, given the disruption of Covid on top of the challenges associated with Brexit. Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have benefited from more than £4.3 billion in Scottish Government support. That includes a generous, non-domestic race relief, which has been extended for the retail sector, along with hospitality, leisure and aviation, throughout 2021-22. I will set out a range of further policies and programmes that will support retailers and those who work for them to make a fair and prosperous recovery. Retail is important to each and every one of us. It creates jobs as one of the largest private sector employers in Scotland, with over 233,000 workers. That is around 9 per cent of Scotland's entire workforce. It creates wealth, contributing £5.8 billion in GVA to the Scottish economy, according to the most recent statistics. More than that, it is a part of the fabric of our communities and our society. There are almost 14,000 retail businesses in every part of Scotland. Shops are often the cornerstone of our communities, as demonstrated during the pandemic. We relied on retail workers during lockdown for the foods and essential supplies that we needed. Many of them went above and beyond, particularly to ensure that our most vulnerable citizens did not go without. Their efforts were not nothing short of heroic, and I am sure that all in this chamber would offer their thanks. Through the success of the vaccination programme, we have been able to lift many Covid restrictions. That has allowed individuals and businesses to get back to something much more like normality. However, Covid-19 has not gone away and we remain in a difficult position. It is necessary to retain some safeguards for now whilst we recover and rebuild for the future. Recovery and rebuilding is crucial for the retail sector, which was subject to restrictions for many months. The Scottish Retail Consortium estimates that some retail businesses were closed for up to 220 days during lockdown. Although I recognise that they are still challenges, they are signs of recovery. According to monthly GDP statistics, retail output is 10.8 per cent higher than 12 months ago and 4.8 per cent higher than in July 2019, before lockdown measures were introduced. However, more than 21 per cent of the wholesale, retail and vehicles repair businesses are reporting decreased turnover compared to what is expected at this time of year. Figures from the Scottish Retail Consortium published last week show retail sales down 9.1 per cent compared with September 2019. These depressed sales figures are compounded by wider challenges, including Covid-related global supply chain disruptions, but others, particularly labour market shortages, are the result of the UK Government's decision to leave the EU in the midst of the pandemic. Clearly, urgent action is needed and we continue to press the UK Government on this. However, we must look at the changes that continue to impact and transform retail. Technology is influencing consumer behaviour and being harnessed by retail. Online shopping now accounts for more than a quarter of all retail sales compared to 3 per cent in 2007 when the first iPhone appeared on the market. Innovation such as self-scanning check-outs, automated stock control and digital sales and marketing are now commonplace. Although Covid might have accelerated the transformation, some of our biggest retail brands such as Debenham and Top Shot have not kept pace and disappeared from our high street. We need a forward-looking, co-ordinated, collaborative response to support the future retail sector. Earlier this month, the Scottish Government published its Covid recovery strategy. It states that a strong, sustainable economy goes hand-in-hand with a fair and equal society. Our forthcoming 10-year national strategy for economic transformation will set out the ways that we will support businesses to create new, good, green jobs and build industries of the future. Key to this is constructive collaboration. For the retail sector, that collaborative effort has been delivered through the development of our retail strategy. We are harnessing the expertise of retail businesses, trade unions, academia, public sector and trade organisations to identify the challenges and opportunities for retail in Scotland. While the strategy will be published later in the year, I want to highlight one of its key components. The Fair Work Convention's report, Fair Work in Scotland highlighted the fair work challenges facing the retail sector. It also states that a sectoral approach, building on the core principle of joint working, would progress towards achieving our aim of becoming a fair work nation by 2025. I can therefore confirm that the strategy will therefore look to establish a sector-led group that will work jointly with partners, including trade unions, to focus on addressing the key challenges facing retail, and in particular will be tasked with improving fair work across the sector. I wish to turn to a matter of considerable interest to colleagues in this chamber—New Year's Day trading. The trade union Usdaw petitioned for a consultation on whether Scottish ministers should use existing order-making powers under the Christmas Day and New Year's Day trading Scotland Act 2007 to close large retail stores on New Year's Day. The matter was considered by the Public Petitions Committee in the last session of this Parliament. The Scottish Government this summer honoured our commitment to consult. While I am sympathetic to the campaign to legislate, the limits of the Christmas and New Year's Day trading act are clear, and having carefully considered responses to the consultation, the prevailing economic conditions and the options that are available to us under the legislation, it is with regret that I confirm that we will not be making an order. We have been consistently clear that, in line with the statutory requirements of the act, a decision on New Year's Day trading will take account of the prevailing economic conditions, which remain difficult for the retail sector. Employment law is, unfortunately, currently reserved. As such, this legislation would only restrict trading in stores over a certain size, and it will not give all retail workers a day off. The legislation would not even cover all workers in large retail. Simply closing stores will not prohibit restocking, deliveries or online shopping, so employees may still be required to work. Crucially, it also does not guarantee that those who get the day off will be paid for it. I am clear that this legislation cannot deliver what we as a Government and what the unions want—better conditions for all workers. We are therefore unable to guarantee paid time off or protect all workers under the act. We want to go further than the legislation allows and put fair work principles at the heart of the retail sector. Fair work principles should apply to those working in all stores and in all parts of retail operations. The retail strategy will have fair work at its core, benefiting retail businesses by making them more attractive to workers and more resilient, productive and profitable. As I have outlined, that requires a coherent, collaborative and long-term approach involving retailers, trade unions and employees, and I will be happy to discuss that further with MSPs with an interest in that statement. Retail is a vital part of our town centres and cities, and we must support them too. Through the work of the town centre review and city centre recovery task force, we are supporting those economies to become more diverse and sustainable as they face the challenge of changing and evolving retail patterns. Earlier this summer, I launched the Scotland Loves Local Fund. That fund will help bring creative projects and activity into our towns and neighbourhoods, building wealth in local communities and attracting footfall, which is essential for shops and businesses. With up to £2 million of investment this year, the fund will enhance the Scotland Loves Local Marketing campaign and Gif Card scheme. I am looking forward to being able to announce the wars of the fund for which I understand there have been 242 applications. I am also pleased to announce that Scotland Loves Local Gif Card is now available to consumers, backed by the next phase of the Scotland Loves Local Marketing campaign. I encourage people to support their local businesses, especially in their run-up to Christmas. The national planning framework NPF4 will provide updated planning policy on retail, recognising its role in the economy and for communities and linked to 20-minute neighbourhoods, connected, compact and accessible places that can contribute to community wealth building. We will lay a draft of NPF4 in Parliament and carry out extensive consultation later this autumn. Our vision is for a thriving retail sector in Scotland. The policies and programmes that I have set out today will support retailers and other businesses that recover from the impact of Covid and will exit by increasing footfall and activity or revitalising local places and town centres. However, recovery must be progressive. It must improve the lives of people and their families, people who work in retail and the customers that they serve. I want the retail sector in Scotland to become an exemplar for inclusive economic growth. Through the retail strategy, the sector will play its part in creating a fairer, greener and stronger Scotland. The minister will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions at which point we will move on to the next item of business. Any members wishing to ask a question are kindly requested to press the requested speak buttons or place an R in the chat function. I warmly welcome the Scottish Government's response to the New Year's Day trading consultation. The minister knows full well that the overwhelming view of the retail sector was that such a statutory closure of shops on New Year's Day would have been a retrograde step at the time that we were doing everything possible to ensure that the retail sector gets back on its feet. It was also a contradictory message to tourists who were always trying to encourage to come to Scotland at the festive period. Minister, I have three very specific questions for you, which were written out of some of the evidence that we have taken at the finance committee just recently. First, what is the Scottish Government doing to assess the changes on consumer purchasing behaviour, not just the technological ones that he has mentioned in his speech as a result of the Covid situation? Those changes have huge implications for the retail sector, and it is incumbent upon the Scottish Government to do some assessment of what they are. Secondly, the minister has quite rightly mentioned that Scotland loves local, and that is something that has very strong cross-party support here. Can he spell out what action the Scottish Government is taking in line with local authorities to ensure that our schools, hospitals and other public bodies are doing an awful lot more to ensure that public procurement of local produce is enhanced because that record there is not particularly good? Finally, can I ask what measures the Scottish Government is taking in line with the banking sector to address the very high level of debt in some of the smaller firms in the retail sector as a result of Covid? I thank Liz Smith for her question. On her first point about changing consumer activity, that is what I recognise, and she will be familiar with the evidence provided by the Scottish Retail Consortium about different patterns. For example, we have seen an uplift in some goods that were not as in demand during the pandemic. During lockdown, for example, we saw increased purchase of food, but perhaps lower purchases of certain goods such as clothes and footwear. There was increased purchasing of, perhaps, a garden centre. That is changing. That is something that we are monitoring closely and will be considered as part of the work of the retail strategy. On her last point in debt, that is something that I am happy to take away and speak to colleagues on to look into further. We have obviously provided extensive support to businesses throughout the pandemic over £4.3 billion, and a lot of businesses on our high street and town centres will continue to benefit from a comprehensive package of non-domestic rates relief. On the second point that she made, that is an area where I could talk at some length, but we have a commitment to take forward a community wealth building legislation later on in this Parliament. As Liz Smith will be aware, one of the key pillars of community wealth building is procurement. I want to be working with local authorities, health boards and other public bodies and the private sector to ensure that we are leveraging the financial clout that they have and that money is going to support local economies. That is a conversation that I very much look forward to having with Liz Smith and other members across the chamber in due course. I thank the minister for early sight of his statement and I appoint fellow members to my register of interests given my interest in the retail sector and the fact that I am a membership of the trade union. My fellow members will feel let down and betrayed by the Scottish Government's failure to act on new day trading. Does the minister recognise that the Government entirely fails to grasp the point by referring to website administration and stock exchange staff? It is shop floor staff and those very large stores that the legislation allows them to act who are affected by the unpredictable and antisocial hours and who would get a day off if they chose to act. Does the minister think that it is fair to force shop workers to work on new year's day given the work that they have done through the pandemic? Does the minister recognise that this is a missed opportunity? A 10-year strategy will undoubtedly be welcomed when it arrives, but with fruit fall down by a fifth, supply chain costs up by a third, many retailers will simply not survive long enough to see the benefits of such a strategy. Retail requires a recovery and a survival plan and it needs one now. Will the minister commit to coming back to the chamber with something substantive and meaningful to allow retailers to survive into the new year? I thank Daniel Johnson for his question. I also recognise his interest in this area and his sterling work on his legislation in the last session of the Parliament. On his last point, I will come back to this chamber with the retail strategy when it is published. This is something that has been done in collaboration, including with representation from us. That will be a substantive document, yes, for a long time, but also to help us to meet our fair work objectives by 2025 and support Covid recovery in the immediate term. On the first point that Mr Johnson raises, I am hugely sympathetic to the points that he makes. As I said in my statement, it is a matter of regret. The issue with the legislation is that it does not deliver, in my opinion, in the opinion of the Government what those advocating for it to be implemented are seeking. It does not guarantee retail workers a day off. As we know, there are many people working within retail who are not in customer facing roles who could still be required to work on the shop floor in stock rooms on new year's day. Indeed, in the consultation response, 43 per cent of businesses indicated that we would still be requiring staff to work on new year's day. I would much rather have as a situation where we had powers over employment law in this Parliament, so we could have a broader look at fair work practices at holidays around the festive season. That is something that we are unable to do in this Parliament. That was something that was recognised when the legislation was going through Parliament 14, 15 years ago. I sympathise with the calls of us DAW members. I sympathise with the points that Daniel Johnson is making. I hope that he can trust that I am acting in good faith because I simply do not believe that this legislation can deliver what us DAW, what Daniel Johnson and many of us would like to see. During Scottish Business Week, I visited retailers in my constituency, one of which no longer has a post office. This has resulted in a surplus of floor area now partitioned off to form an empty but usable space. Can I ask the minister what can be done to support or incentivise businesses such as supermarkets to ensure that unused floor space could be used for community benefit? I am very keen, as we all are, to see community benefit wherever possible. I am conscious that some large retailers have, for example, been partnering up with local suppliers to create pop-up stores. I think that that is an excellent example of the kind of activity that can take place. More broadly, we are seeking to provide a supportive tax landscape around non-domestic rates and, with our actions in the Scotland Loves local campaign, our local gift card and, indeed, the work that we are doing more broadly in planning and town centre regeneration is work that can help to increase footfall, which will be a benefit to all retail. The Scottish retail industry employs over 240,000 people and makes a huge contribution to the Scottish economy. However, the pandemic and lockdown has resulted in almost one in six shops closing down permanently. Shopper footfall has fallen by 27 per cent and shop vacancies have spiked to a six-year high, all of which is contributing to an increase in empty shops on our struggling high streets. What the minister has announced today does nothing to stop the rot. No strategy is yet, no plan yet and no mention of our business improvement district. The minister said that the next two months could make or break for many retail businesses, so when will he open his eyes and provide real help to the retail sector? I can assure the members that my eyes are wide open. I engage regularly with the retail sector. As the member will be aware, those challenges are not unique to Scotland. Indeed, the challenges faced by retail are not even unique to the United Kingdom. We have seen existing change that has been taking place over a prolonged period for the retail sector, which has accelerated during the pandemic. The challenge is what comes next. I agree that there is a need for immediate support. That is why, as I made clear earlier, the Scottish Government has committed to suspending £4.3 billion in supporting businesses, a comprehensive package of non-domestic rates relief to support retail and other sectors throughout the pandemic. It is why we are taking action such as the Scotland loves local campaign to go and increase footfall, motivate more people to shop locally and ensure that activity is synchronised as we move into what the member will be familiar with. We are taking that immediate action. I will also later in the autumn, bring in NPF4 to the Parliament. There is a review to the town centre action plan, which we are preparing in consultation with partners including COSLA. Of course, we will later this year publish a retail strategy. I will be happy to come back and discuss that with members in more detail. As I said during my statement, I am happy to meet any member in the chamber to discuss those issues. I am passionate about making Scotland a vibrant and flourishing place for the retail sector. David Torrance, followed by Colin Smith. The economic impact of a pandemic has been felt across Scotland, but there has undoubtedly been a disproportionate impact on areas with pre-existing inequality. Can the minister advise what steps the Scottish Government can take to counteract such inequalities? I thank David Torrance for his question. More broadly, that is a huge area. The Government published a Covid recovery strategy on 5 October, which sets out an ambitious vision and plan for Scotland's recovery from the pandemic. That is focused on bringing about a fairer future for all. The strategy details three outcomes that are central to achieving this vision of a fairer future. Those are the increasing financial security for low-income households, enhance the wellbeing of children and young people and create good, green jobs and fair work. That work will also be taken forward through the national strategy for economic transformation, and specifically within the retail strategy. We recognise the key role that convenience stores often play in their localities, particularly in supporting vulnerable groups. That is something that will be reflected in the retail strategy as well. Of course, I am happy to discuss the matter further with the member, should he be interested. The minister said that the run-up to Christmas is the most critical training period of the year for retail. He says that it is maker break for many, but there was nothing in his statement to ensure that it is make. Why has the Government not considered a proper high street vulture scheme called for by labour and the Scottish retail consortium to give it a real stimulus to our high street, rather than the very limited Scotland loves gift card that consumers have to pay for themselves? I appreciate that this is an issue that we have raised before. We will look closely at what is happening in Northern Ireland and we will monitor it to see what impact it has. What we do know, however, is that consumers spend a lot of money during the festive period. What the gift card allows us to do is to help to channel that money into our local economies. That is what we are trying to incentivise. We have the gift card, but it also aligns with the Scotland loves local campaign, which will seek to go and drive more people to use the gift card and to spend money locally supporting local retail. Many local retailers in my constituency of Falka East did a great job in being innovative throughout the pandemic and demonstrated their fundamental value to our communities. However, at present, small local retailers are at a huge disadvantage compared to online only giants who can avoid local taxation, often do not pay anywhere near their full share of national taxes and do not invest in local communities. Will the minister agree to write to the UK Government to ask them if they have yet managed to make any progress to ensure online giants such as Amazon pay their fair share of taxes and provide value to society? We also look to ways that the Scottish Government can encourage large companies such as Amazon to increase their contributions to very worthy causes in Scotland. I am happy to write to the UK Government to raise those issues. I want to pick up on one point from what Michelle Thompson said, which is to recognise the tremendous contribution that is played by retail, particularly local retail in our communities. I wish to make a response to the question from David Torrance. Local convenience stores play a very important role in supporting people in our communities across Scotland. Often, there is a long-standing relationship between customers and the people who work in these establishments. That is a real value that retail adds to our community that can sometimes be overlooked. More broadly, the issue around online giants that Michelle Thompson raises is an important one, but that should be aware. This is a global issue, and global issues require global solutions. I welcome the announcement made by the G7 finance ministers in June to address this. The UK digital services tax introduced by the UK Government in April 2020 was a step in the right direction, but it is a short-term solution. What we need is concerted global action to address those issues. Of course, we are committed to the Government to exploring the options around a digital tax within our existing powers. If the Scotland loves local gift card is to have a meaningful economic impact on retail, it needs to operate at scale, otherwise it will just be tokenistic. How many businesses have bought bulk purchases of the card for their employees, and how many cards have the Government bought for its employees? Thank Willie Rennie for his question. He makes a very important point. That is only going to work if it works operates at scale. I do not have specific answers to those questions, but I will see if I can source that data if we do have it. More generally, the Scottish Government is making 5,000 of those cards available to each local authority to kickstart the project. The cards are now available to buy or are available to buy online. We are working in partnership with Scotland's Township Partnership, which administers the scheme to look to ways to expand opportunities to procure the gift cards that have gone into the new year. The specific points that Willie Rennie raised, I will look to see whether we are able to provide that data for him. If I am able to do so, I will do so in writing. I refer to the proposed retail strategy and note that local authorities are not specifically listed as possible consultees, yet decisions of planners, especially in rural towns such as in Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Loddodale, have a major impact on small retail businesses. Will the minister confirm that local authorities will be part and parcel of developing any retail strategy? I will confirm that we engage regularly with a range of partners, including COSLA, and we will take into account the view of all partners in forming the retail strategy. This strategy is going to be driven by the work of the steering group, so I hope that reassures the member. Maggie Chapman, to be followed by Tess White. I thank the minister for his statement and Asgore for the petition. The Scottish Greens continue to support statutory holidays over the Christmas and New Year period as a workers' rights issue, a right of all workers to not only have time to spend with loved ones at times of important celebrations, but also because workers have the right to decent time off and a good work-life balance. As the idea of the high street changes, with big brands such as Burton and Devinons disappearing, the need to reimagine our town centres and the retail sector becomes increasingly pressing. Does the minister agree that concepts like the four-day week show his shift in values from work all you can to more focus on better work-life balance and can he provide an update on the work being undertaken to shift to that four-day working week? I thank the member for his question and she will be aware that it is a commitment of this Government to pursue a four-day week. We have our own party student manifesto commitment to provide £10 million to support that, so that is something that we will be taking forward. I will be happy to write to the member and provide more details on that matter. More broadly, our high streets are changing and that is why NPF4, for example, will have the concept of 20-minute neighbourhoods at its heart. I very much look forward to the wide-ranging discussion and debates that it will have on NPF4, including its specific policies on retail when that is published later in the autumn. Will the forthcoming retail strategy address the marked decline in retail and customer service modern apprenticeship starts, highlighted by Skills Development Scotland, which are nowhere near pre-pandemic levels? I thank the member for her question. We have a specific workgroup and theme within the retail strategy, so the retail strategy will not address the issues raised by the member, but we will look more broadly at its skills within the sector in line with our broader commitments around fair work. I look forward to further discussions once the strategy is published. I welcome the minister's comments on steps that the Scottish Government will be taking to promote fair work. Can the minister expand on how the Scottish Government will engage with the retail sector and stakeholders as it continues to develop its approach? As I made reference to in my statement, one of the things that we are committed to taking out of the work of the retail strategy steering group is a sector-led group. The form of that will be agreed in discussion with the sector, but this is a strategy that is going to be a live document and we are looking to work in partnership with business, trade unions and employees to make sure that the sector delivers, and as I said, fair work will be at the heart of the strategy.