Chamber and committees

No, I did not.

A specific regional breakdown for the west of Scotland is not information that we hold. However, as of mid-November, 233 tenant hardship loans had been awarded totalling £615,614, and a further 12 loans had been offered with a potential award value of £38,608.

Councils are administering the tenant grant fund, and they will report progress to the Scottish Government quarterly. The first report is due by the end of this month. It will set out the number and level of grants that were issued, whether those paid the arrears in full or partially, and how many tenancies were sustained at the time.

The member can quote people out of context all he likes, but will he not acknowledge as a matter of fact that political parties of the left, centre and centre right, and even lifelong Conservatives such as John Gummer, have already got real and recognised that everlasting expansion of oil and gas extraction is not compatible with a serious response on the climate emergency?

I will speak if he wants me to.

The member will be aware of the range of work that we are undertaking, including through the coronavirus legislation, to extend some of the measures that were brought in during the pandemic. There is also the work on the rented sector strategy, on which I will be saying more next week, which includes the commitment to act on winter evictions. I hope that the member is supportive of that agenda.

He will be well aware that grant and loan funds are not the only action being taken on funding. I could also mention the wider £38 million package of support that was brought in during the pandemic, the discretionary housing payments, which are worth £82 million this year, and a great deal else besides. I hope that the member will engage constructively with that agenda.

Yes, indeed. There is a great deal in the Scottish budget to take forward such work, including the £23.5 million homelessness support fund to local authorities and the £10 million that is available from the ending homelessness together fund, which will build on the significant progress that was made in the past year as part of an overall £100 million investment in the course of this parliamentary session. There is also substantial investment in the provision of new affordable homes; there is the work that I mentioned before that is being funded to develop and then implement the rented sector strategy; and £80 million is available for discretionary housing payments.

I am grateful to the member for giving way. The Conservatives, not necessarily here, but at Westminster, are still selecting as candidates—as politicians—people who are outright climate deniers and who have moved on from supporting Brexit to opposing lockdown and are now forming the net zero scrutiny group to oppose climate action UK-wide. How embarrassed are the Tories about that?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I suspect that the member knows that I did not use the words “far right” and that he is well aware that he is misleading the chamber. If my suspicion is wrong, I will apologise, but, if he is aware that he is using words that I did not use and that I used the words “hard right” to describe him and his party, not anybody else, then I suspect that he should withdraw his comments.

I will if I have time, Presiding Officer.

It has been one of those debates that has encouraged members to talk with great pride and enthusiasm—and rightly so—about the produce, businesses, communities and experiences in their local areas. Issues ranged from clootie dumplings to Friday nights in Barrhead—I am not sure whether those were shared Friday nights; if not, it is not too late.

I encourage members to continue to tell the stories of their local communities with enthusiasm and to say what makes them diverse, creative and unique places. Whatever differences we might have in politics, I think that that unites us across the political spectrum and across all political parties. Colin Smyth was the first to paint that picture of his local area. His comment about football was the only one that I did not understand, but that says more about me than it does about him.

Most of the debate has been characterised by positive ideas and positive assertions about the value of creativity and uniqueness in local communities, which I very much welcome.

It is almost a tradition in the Parliament that, in the days before the budget, Opposition amendments are about pre-empting it, but political parties understand that the Government will not be able to support amendments that pre-empt tomorrow’s budget.

I welcome and encourage members to maintain the positivity that has been evident throughout most of the debate. If members have positive suggestions for how the Government should take its budget through, I am confident that they will come with proposals about where the money should come from as well as about where it should go.

The Scotland Loves Local programme is an example of an initiative that crosses numerous ministerial portfolios. As Tom Arthur said in his opening speech, the programme will succeed only through collaboration across political parties, ministerial portfolios and all parts of the Government, and through the public, private and third sectors working together with communities.

If we get that initiative right, the economic benefits will be evident. Encouraging more people to spend more of their time and money in local businesses will build stronger and more vibrant and sustainable communities, breathe life back into town and city centres and ensure that we are on the road to recovery following the disruption of the pandemic.

Members have put much emphasis on retail—including in the context of online retail—which is understandable. It is important to remember that many independent businesses with roots firmly in their local communities sell online, too. For some businesses, online sales help to keep them in business and keep their doors open on the high street. We need to encourage and support businesses to use those opportunities.

Paul Sweeney commented on the domination of multinationals, which is an important concern that many parts of the political spectrum share. It is clear that far too many opportunities for corporate tax avoidance exist for large multinationals, and tax avoidance is a big driver behind the domination of multinationals on the high street. Aspects of that issue are outwith the control of the Parliament. However, we want to look at devolved and local taxes, including with the citizens assembly on local government finance that will happen later in this session, which I encourage everyone to engage with.

The imminent national strategy for economic transformation will also offer opportunities to look at wider business ownership models and at the support that business owners need. Many ministerial portfolios are responsible for engaging in this agenda.

As the active travel minister, I understandably want to take some time to talk about how the way in which we move through our communities is profoundly connected to how we shape and connect to them, including to the businesses that operate in them. As Emma Roddick mentioned, the contribution that walking, wheeling and cycling can make to the Scotland Loves Local programme and the localism agenda more widely is extremely important, particularly the concept of 20-minute neighbourhoods.

I think that it was Colin Smyth who mentioned the role of public transport. I hope that he is happy to welcome the fact that we will see free bus travel for under-22s. I know that people are pushing for the expansion of that scheme to cover other groups, and I want to hear those arguments, but we are making a good start in making free bus travel available for under-22s. Ensuring that people can access their local communities affordably and sustainably is critical.

Walking, cycling and wheeling are parts of a public health approach, and we want to ensure that people get the benefits of an active lifestyle. However, they are about much more than that—they are about our connection to a local community. Fiona Hyslop talked about measuring success in broader ways than direct economic impact; active travel is about people and their connection to and relationships with one another and a place. Colin Beattie commented on how that point relates to the issues of isolation and mental health. The ways in which we are physically connected and move through our communities are important in shaping far more than narrow economic metrics.

People’s travel behaviour and experience of the transport system differ depending on many factors such as income, gender, ethnicity, age and disability, among others. We need to understand those challenges as well.