Chamber and committees

I thank the minister for that response, but we are at risk of losing the valuable and productive economic sector of self-catering accommodation businesses. These small local businesses are under attack, and they are being forced out of the sector by demands for planning applications from local authorities, most notably here, in the city of Edinburgh. Shockingly, that is despite judicial rulings that the permissions are not mandatory for self-catering operators that were in business before September 2022. The practices contradict judicial rulings and appear to be arbitrary, with inconsistency between local authorities. Lord Braid has rightly described them as “oppressive and disproportionate”. What immediate steps will the Scottish Government take to ensure that local authorities abide by the law and end the unjust imposition of planning requirements on self-catering operators that the courts have already ruled to be lawful?

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions economy ministers have had with ministerial colleagues regarding what steps it is taking to improve regulatory clarity and reduce compliance costs for self-catering accommodation businesses. (S6O-04382)

I, too, thank Carol Mochan for bringing the debate to the chamber. Alcohol-related brain damage is a serious issue, and one that is perhaps not as widely recognised as it should be. Carol Mochan clearly outlined the symptoms and how they directly impact those with ARBD, and referred to the role of diet and vitamin B1, or thiamine.

In 2023, 1,277 people tragically lost their lives to alcohol. That is a 15-year high, and it is quite shocking. That is 1,277 people who have lived with years of poor health and who have left behind families and friends; the effects are felt by so many. The number of people accessing alcohol services is now 40 per cent lower than it was a decade ago. When people do access those services, they are much older and, as a result, have increasingly complex problems. Again, Carol Mochan spoke about the lack of expertise and specialists in this clinical field. In Edinburgh, however, we are fortunate in having a specialist ARBD service.

I have raised issues surrounding ARBD in the chamber several times, and I have written to the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, Jenni Minto, specifically regarding issues with the NHS Lothian alcohol-related brain damage unit in Edinburgh. In September, I questioned the Scottish Government about its response to

“Dr Stephen Smith’s evaluation of the alcohol-related brain damage residential rehabilitation service in Edinburgh”.

The minister replied to say that the SNP Government was “reviewing the evaluation”.

Earlier, in an intervention, Paul Sweeney mentioned the Penumbra service in the west of Scotland. The ARBD unit that is run by Penumbra at Milestone house in Edinburgh saves lives, yet it is facing the withdrawal of funding. Given that the service reduces the number of hospital bed days in NHS Lothian by nearly 2,000 a year, it is clear that there would be a very negative impact if the service was to close.

I know that decisions on funding and service provision are made at a local level by NHS Lothian but, in responding further to my question, the minister said that the Scottish Government was

“working with members of our expert residential rehabilitation development working group to assess whether the ARBD unit meets the”

correct definition of what counts as “residential rehabilitation”, and stated that it would

“provide an update ... in due course”.—[Official Report, 11 September 2025; c 13-14.]

In October, I raised the issue in the chamber once again, after the decision to close the ARBD unit in Edinburgh was paused while options were being assessed. However, there is no other ARBD-specific residential rehab unit in Scotland, and evidence shows that treatment for people with ARBD in non-specialist units is often unsatisfactory.

I am still waiting for an update from the Scottish Government on whether that vital life-saving unit in Edinburgh will remain open. It is disappointing that the issue has dragged on for so long without any further updates.

Given the pressures that our services are under—in particular, the blocked beds and delayed discharges in acute hospital settings—I hope that the Scottish Government will provide the clarity and support that are needed to keep the ARBD unit in Edinburgh open.

The Scottish Conservatives will always support increased investment in Scotland and believe that it can be enhanced through our commonsense plans to drive economic growth and cut taxes for workers and businesses. However, the SNP’s high-tax, low-income budget continues its 17 years of failure. Those failures are endless and range from a failing economy, a decline in education standards and a national health service that is in permanent crisis to the highest drug deaths rate in Europe.

Investment is key to Scotland’s future, but businesses are about to be hammered by the UK Labour Government’s national insurance hike and hindered by the SNP’s high-tax, low-growth agenda. The budget this week should have cut taxes for hard-working Scots and businesses; instead, the SNP’s proposals will stifle the economic growth that is vital to the future of public services in Scotland. After Labour’s crippling national insurance jobs tax, we needed a budget based on common sense and sound finances.

Investment is linked to the availability of skilled labour, yet the SNP has made Scotland’s income tax rates the highest in the UK, limiting industry access to skilled workers and undermining investment and economic growth. Economic growth should be front and centre of the policy agenda, and tone matters when investors are looking at where to put their capital.

No.

There is a risk that a lack of policy alignment across other areas of Government will undermine that clear message. Rent caps are a good example. The damage done to the build-to-rent housing sector by the Scottish Government’s rent cap schemes is severe—£3.2 billion of private rented sector investment has been halted since rent control measures were put in place. Rents in Scotland have increased faster than anywhere else in the UK as a result. Concerned constituents here in Edinburgh constantly write to us about that very fact and the crippling impact that it has on them.

Transport is key to tackling inequalities across our country. Good transport links connect communities to schools, colleges, general practitioners, hospitals, dentists, shops, leisure facilities and people’s jobs. Whether it is ferries, trains, roads, potholes or public transport, it is clear that the SNP is failing to deliver on key services that are vital not only for the people of Scotland but for the economy.

Public sector investment in infrastructure is essential, as it facilitates the movement of goods and people, enabling businesses to operate efficiently, access wider markets and contribute to overall economic growth by increasing productivity, attracting investment and creating jobs. The need for investment in our roads has been glaring for years. The improvement of roads such as the A9, the A96, the A77 and the A75 is essential for sustainable economic growth as well as the protection of the communities on those routes.

That is why the delays to and uncertainty around the project to dual the A9 from Perth to Inverness and the Scottish Government’s temporising on dualling the A96 are alarming and anti-growth. Rural communities who depend on the A96 deserve better.

The Scottish Conservatives will always support increased investment in Scotland and believe that it can be enhanced through our commonsense plans to drive economic growth and cut taxes for workers and businesses. However, the SNP’s high-tax, low-income budget continues its 17 years of failure. Those failures are endless and range from a failing economy, a decline in education standards and a national health service that is in permanent crisis to the highest drug deaths rate in Europe.

Investment is key to Scotland’s future, but businesses are about to be hammered by the UK Labour Government’s national insurance hike and hindered by the SNP’s high-tax, low-growth agenda. The budget this week should have cut taxes for hard-working Scots and businesses; instead, the SNP’s proposals will stifle the economic growth that is vital to the future of public services in Scotland. After Labour’s crippling national insurance jobs tax, we needed a budget based on common sense and sound finances.

Investment is linked to the availability of skilled labour, yet the SNP has made Scotland’s income tax rates the highest in the UK, limiting industry access to skilled workers and undermining investment and economic growth. Economic growth should be front and centre of the policy agenda, and tone matters when investors are looking at where to put their capital.

Apologies—I have only four minutes.

We were promised that that lifeline road would be dualled all the way to Inverness by 2025, yet here we are in February 2025 and the promise has been repeatedly broken. We must also think about the A9—the backbone of Scotland. The failure to fully dual that key road has tragically resulted in far too many serious injuries and deaths.

More locally, simple improvements to rail infrastructure would bring obvious economic benefits. I am talking about improvements such as building a train station at Winchburgh to put a booming town of more than 3,400 new homes on the main Edinburgh to Glasgow line, and building the short Almond chord link to turn the Edinburgh Gateway station from a white elephant into a hub for the new west town that would be as busy as Haymarket.

As usual, the Scottish Conservatives are the party of common sense, which was clear from our budget proposals to cut taxes for workers and businesses. We believe that every penny of taxpayers’ money must be spent carefully to address the real concerns and needs of people up and down Scotland.

No—sorry. We are short of time.

Unsurprisingly, only one fifth of passengers think that ScotRail delivers good value for money. Polling found that 46.4 per cent of Scots thought that rail fares were too expensive.

The SNP’s nationalisation of ScotRail has been a failure by any and every measure. Nicola Sturgeon promised passengers that Scotland’s rail service would improve with Government ownership, yet things are manifestly worse than they were when ScotRail was under Abellio. Taxpayer subsidies, ticket prices and complaints have all soared while the number of services and the number of passengers using them have plummeted.

The just transition paper looks like another ploy to make the SNP look as if it is doing something while doing little—except squandering more public money. There are no projects, no priorities, no timescales and certainly no costings. The Scottish Government receives more money per capita for public services than the rest of the UK. It is high time that the SNP showed more common sense and used that money to give the public the vital services that they deserve at a cost that they can afford.

I move amendment S6M-16572.1, to insert at end:

“; notes that the operation of ScotRail has cost £600 million more compared to when it was in private hands, and that rail fares also increased by 8.7% in the 2024-25 financial year; calls on the Scottish Government to deliver value for money for taxpayers, which is a significant concern for rail users; urges the Scottish Government to increase access to ScotRail by opening new railway stations, in areas such as Winchburgh, Cove and Newtonhill, and calls on the Scottish Government to consider how a nationalised rail service can provide for all people in Scotland.”

Will the member take an intervention?

I am certain that, if we had fair and less expensive fares, passenger numbers would be even greater.

Despite the reduced number of passenger journeys, ScotRail is increasing its ticket prices by almost 4 per cent in the forthcoming financial year. That is on the back of an 8.7 per cent increase last year, which means that there will be a more than 12 per cent increase over two years. The price rise will affect all services that are operated by ScotRail, and it will mean that an any-time return ticket from Glasgow to Edinburgh will now cost £32.60. We heard that a flexipass might reduce the cost to £21, but that is still an eye-watering price.