Chamber and committees

The First Minister will be aware that her Government fits only heat pumps under its central heating assistance scheme. Those pumps are absolutely useless in draughty houses, and people who need help to replace and install central heating cannot afford to clad their homes with insulation. Will she therefore urgently amend the scheme to ensure that insulation is fitted in tandem with heat pumps in central heating schemes to ensure that nobody is freezing this winter?

The minister has talked about additional ferries both today and previously. When is she going to be in a position to give us more details on that, and does she hope that the additional ferries will be available this winter?

I recognise that the minister understands that to an extent. It must, however, be terrifying for a parent sitting here, watching the clock tick by, knowing that their child’s childcare is finished, and that their child may be standing outside in the rain on their own, waiting for their parent to turn up. That must be really difficult for a parent.

To ask the Scottish Government to which budget line the £5 million previously allocated to the islands bond scheme will be reallocated. (S6O-01360)

It is not entirely clear from the cabinet secretary’s response what the money will fund. He is right to highlight depopulation, which is caused by housing issues, especially in relation to housing for young people. Has he given any consideration to Jim Hunter’s suggestion of setting up a Highlands and Islands housing authority that is empowered to address housing and depopulation? The £5 million that was set aside for the islands bond would not fund that scale of initiative, but has the cabinet secretary considered making the money available to young islanders by way of grants to self-build?

As other members have done, I welcome Roz McCall to the chamber.

Presiding Officer, we have come to the close of the Elizabethan age—a time of great change, during which Queen Elizabeth remained a constant in our society.? The past week has been incredibly tough for so many people: especially for those who followed the royal family as closely as their own extended family, but others who?did not?have also been deeply affected. The Queen’s passing has united people, regardless of whether they hold political beliefs or have none. ?Even those who would prefer to have an elected head of state have recognised her unparalleled?commitment and service to our country.?

As we look back over the Queen’s reign, we can see that so much has changed. ?Her coronation was televised, but that involved cutting-edge technology at that time. Largely through her belief in the value of diverse nations coming together to celebrate humanity, the Queen played a leading role in creating the modern Commonwealth, which has seen 54 countries, across six continents, working together.

Scotland was special to the Queen, and she was special to Scotland. I was brought up on the west coast and remember seeing the?royal yacht Britannia?at close range as the royal family holidayed? locally. Many people there have stories about bumping into the Queen—although none deliberately, as they believed in giving her the time, space and privacy that she needed with her family. On one occasion, a?friend of mine saw some people walking around an old school building that was no longer used. My friend was a little concerned that they were trying to break in, so she went?to investigate,?only to see a woman disappear in?through?a window. ?Luckily, one of the? party?was outside and explained to my friend that it was in fact the Queen who was going through the window to have a better look. ?She had, of course, been invited to look inside the building but could not find the key. However, she had not let that stop her. My friend beat a hasty retreat rather than carry out a citizen’s arrest.

So many people have warm memories of the Queen and have wished?to pay tribute to her life of service, as we have seen over the past few days. Her example is being followed by the new King and the rest of her family. While grieving,?they have carried out official duties to provide comfort and continuity to the nation. I hope that they will have time to deal with their own?loss in private, and that it is a comfort to them to see the regard in which the Queen was held.

I thank the members who signed my motion to allow this debate to take place. I also refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, which states that I am a member of the Co-operative Party, which is a party that holds the fair tax mark and actively campaigns for the promotion of not only the fair tax mark itself but the ethos that lies behind it.

The motion was lodged to mark fair tax week in June, but the debate is as pertinent today as it would have been then—possibly more so, because we are facing a cost of living crisis. Many people are concerned about how they will afford the very basics for survival this winter.

Tax is our investment in the society in which we wish to live. The money that we pay should be invested in creating a better and more caring society and providing security to our citizens. Therefore, taxation should be viewed as a positive contribution to society. The fair tax mark seeks to highlight that. It seeks to recognise the companies that have paid the correct rate of tax, at the correct time and in the correct jurisdiction; companies that take pride in the fact that they contribute to our collective wellbeing.

Sadly, not every company wants to make that investment. It is estimated that shifting tax liability has led to a loss to the Exchequer that is equal to 28 per cent of the tax collected. That is income that could have been invested in the national health service and other essential services. Instead, it was offshored to boost fat cats and shareholder dividends. That is not illegal, but it should be.

The United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment states:

“Earnings that are reliant on tax planning rather than genuine economic activity are vulnerable to changes in tax regulation and enforcement ... Even if specific tax regulations are not changed, more proactive enforcement by regulators suggests the earnings risk resulting from these strategies is increasing. As countries and their tax authorities become increasingly concerned with the exploitation of loopholes in international tax frameworks and are under fiscal pressure to fund additional government programmes, the incidence of tax disputes and litigation will increase.”

Therefore, staking a company’s future success on a strategy that is based on tax avoidance is not only morally wrong—it is risky.

Tax avoidance is of concern not only to Governments but to citizens. The annual survey by the Institute of Business Ethics showed that 47 per cent of respondents were concerned about corporation tax avoidance, and it has topped the list of public concerns for nine years in a row. Those findings are in line with the Fair Tax Foundation’s polling, which found that 74 per cent of people would rather shop with a business that is paying its fair share of tax.

We, in the United Kingdom, can take steps to stop tax avoidance and offshoring, but we must also try to build global consensus to ensure that corporations pay their taxes where their profits are earned. That requires agreement between Governments, and I urge the UK Government to initiate those discussions and broker a global response.

There are also things that we can do in Scotland to promote the payment of fair taxation. The Scottish Government and the whole of the Scottish public sector procure services from the private sector. We need to use stringent procurement methods to ensure that companies pay their taxes. That must be an essential requirement in all public contracts.

We could also use that approach for licensing. Did the ScotWind bidders have to show that they had paid their taxes where their profits were earned, and were they required to continue to pay their fair taxes on profits made from our renewable energy?

The fair tax mark allows companies that pay their tax at the correct rate, in the right jurisdiction and on time to be easily identified. That accreditation can be trusted by procuring authorities, allowing them simply to ask contractors and suppliers whether they have achieved the fair tax mark. Councils across Scotland have been calling for ethical action in procurement by signing up to the councils for fair tax declaration. South Lanarkshire, Edinburgh, Midlothian and Dundee have already signed, but we need more councils to sign up as well.

The public agree: 66 per cent of people believe that the UK and Scottish Governments and local councils should at least consider a company’s ethics and how it pays its tax as part of the procurement process. During the pandemic, 80 per cent of people believed that businesses benefiting from Government bailouts should have received that bailout only if they had agreed to the conditions that prohibit tax avoidance. Frankly, I believe that they should not have received a bailout if they had not paid their fair share of tax in the past, given that it was those very taxes that paid for the bailout.

Many companies and organisations have received the fair tax mark accreditation, and I want to pay tribute to them. They include ones that we would expect, such as the Co-operative Party and co-operative societies such as Scotmid and the Co-operative Group—organisations that have fair practice at their very core. Government-owned companies such as Scottish Water have also achieved accreditation, as have large plcs, such as SSE, and smaller firms, such as Glasgow-based accountancy firm Brett Nicholls Associates and North Berwick-based Jerba Campervans. It is a long list, but not long enough. We need to make sure that all companies that work with government at any level should attain this accreditation.

I believe that we must change the culture around taxation. It should be acknowledged and valued when companies pay their fair tax in the country where they make their profit. That is fair to their workers and it is fair to customers. That payment is their investment in our society. It enables Governments to provide the services and security that we all require.

The ferry disruptions impact on the economy, leading to cancellations by tourists, freight being delayed and people being stranded at terminals overnight. What is being put in place to help people who are stranded due to cancellations and the businesses that are impacted?

Will the minister give a commitment that there will be no reduction in capacity to and from Harris and Uist during the winter closures and no disruption during the summer months while the work at Uig harbour is being progressed?

Yes. I am heartened that this work is on-going, but I am disappointed that it has taken this long. CHAT fulfils the expectations of what constitutes a community body, so it should be involved in decision making and have that request agreed.

We probably have to wait and see what happens. I ask that you write to the Scottish Government and see what timeline it would be proposing to take action to put in place an appeal process. That is the problem. We know that CHAT should be accepted, but the trouble is that there is no appeals process when it is not accepted. Could you ask the Scottish Government when it hopes to be in a position to instigate an appeals process? Also, could you ask it to issue guidance or something in the interim so that we could get CHAT to where it should be? It has done a huge amount of work locally. It is trusted by its community and it would be helpful if it was around the table with NHS Highland. You have heard petitioners from the north here on other issues, and CHAT would be well able to represent their views with NHS Highland. If that happened, we might not be in the position where people feel that they can only petition this Parliament to try to get some action. It might cut through some of the concerns that people have.

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to safeguard food production. (S6O-01306)