Chamber and committees

The committee is interested in tourist tax exemptions that are in place across Europe, whether they are determined nationally or locally, what type of stays or guests are exempt and how accommodation providers and local authorities check to ensure that exemptions claims are legitimate.

I thank the minister for her dedication to supporting all victims of domestic violence. I welcome the recent Scottish Government pilot fund to enable women who are experiencing domestic violence to access essentials. That will go a long way to helping victims to be financially independent. As we know, that is a huge barrier to women being able to flee.

Migrant victims of domestic abuse might face unique problems such as immigration status or a lack of access to social security benefits because of the United Kingdom Government’s no recourse to public funds policy. Does the minister agree that the UK Government’s hostile environment policies are particularly harmful to migrant women who are affected by abuse?

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support any migrants living in Scotland who have experienced domestic violence. (S6O-02627)

Thank you.

Good morning, panel. What are your views on the levy being an accommodation levy and not a visitor levy? Margo Paterson commented on the fact that many visitors such as day-trippers, wild campers, some motorhome drivers and cruise-ship passengers will not have to pay anything. Could the bill be amended to capture visitors who do not pay for accommodation but clearly have an impact on the areas that they visit?

I will go to Sarah Allanson first.

Thank you.

Do the witnesses consider that there are accommodation providers that will be covered by the bill that should not be covered?

Good morning. What are your views on the levy being an accommodation levy and not a visitor levy, because many visitors—day trippers, wild campers, some motorhome drivers and cruise-ship passengers—will not have to pay anything? David Weston touched on that. Would you like to expand on your previous comments?

A key mission of the Verity house agreement is to tackle poverty and relieve the effects of rising costs on household finances. Will the cabinet secretary confirm that the council tax freeze will be implemented in a way that honours that Verity house mission and assists Scottish local government in combating the United Kingdom cost of living crisis?

I congratulate Collette Stevenson on securing this important debate on challenge poverty week. Tackling poverty and inequality is the single biggest challenge that we face in Scotland, and it requires continued, urgent and sustained action.

In Scotland, we are introducing a fairer social security system—one in which the stigma and conditionality of the Department for Work and Pensions system play no part. There is no two-child limit, which is favoured by the two parties that aspire to govern at Westminster. Instead, we have a Scottish child payment that was increased to £25 and is described by the Child Poverty Action Group as

“an absolute game-changer in the fight to end child poverty”.

I am the first to acknowledge that more can be done, and I welcome that we will review the level of the payment in future budgets.

In my home town of Clydebank and across my constituency, the residents do more than challenge poverty for just one week in the year—they do it every day. Faifley food share provides a food pantry for residents that is run by a small team of volunteers. Dalmuir Barclay church community pantry runs a food pantry, drop-in cafe, clothing drives, indoor bowling and three craft groups. Old Kilpatrick Food Parcels offers a free food pantry, chatty cafes for residents to have a warm meal and a chat with others, movie nights for kids and so much more. The kindness and warmth of those groups and their dedication to help others and challenge poverty is unmatched. The generosity of the whole Clydebank and Milngavie community, who come together to support those who are struggling, is a lifeline. I am grateful for what those groups do, but it should not have to be this way.

The existence of food banks in the 21st century is an outrage. Unfortunately, Westminster policies—policies that have inflicted decades of austerity and dreadful cuts to social security—have made them essential for many. The Trussell Trust, which is the organisation that runs around two thirds of the food banks in the UK, went from giving out around 61,000 food parcels in 2010 to giving out 2.5 million in 2020.

In 2022, David Cameron tweeted that he had been volunteering at his local food bank for the past two years. That is truly the starkest of ironies, given that food bank usage went up by 2,612 per cent while he was Prime Minister. That is not something to be proud of. In the face of the current Westminster cost of living crisis, we need action from the UK Government that will challenge poverty. We need the £20 universal credit uplift to be reinstated and increased, the abhorrent two-child cap and the rape clause to be abolished, and the energy bill rebate to be reintroduced to ensure that no one has to decide between heating and eating.

A report last year from Aberlour Children’s Charity found that families that are in receipt of universal credit are having their monthly income reduced by, on average, £80 to cover debts such as universal credit advances. At such a difficult time for families, surely the Westminster Government should suspend those deductions and not reduce an already inadequate level of support.

I am thankful for the work that the local food pantries do in my constituency, but we should all fight for a Scotland where they are not needed. No one should ever be unable to afford the essentials. We want a just and equal Scotland, and I truly believe that we can achieve some of that with cross-party support. However, we need a UK Government to act. With the current Tory Government or with the Labour Party, which will keep the two-child policy, we will never see a truly equal and poverty-free Scotland; only with the control of our own affairs will we see that.

As you said, the Scottish Government has expanded eligibility for some benefits such as adult disability payment and Scottish carers assistance without the requisite funding from the UK Government. Does funding that additional expenditure put continued pressure on the Scottish Government? You have touched on the subject—can you expand on that a wee bit?