Chamber and committees

My next question is about how councils are likely to push down on some cost pressures so that they do not have to increase council tax above inflation. Previous settlements have led to cuts to services, so in which areas can councils consider making cuts, increasing charging or reducing services? What will that look like across Scotland?

Given the funding formula, which councils are least able to meet that challenge? My area, which is Edinburgh, receives the lowest funding per head of population, but we know about the pressures on social care and housing there. Most of the delayed discharge problems that NHS Scotland faces are actually in the capital. Do you know, from the discussions that are going on at national level in COSLA, which councils are most likely to need the largest council tax increases?

That is helpful, thank you. Unison’s submission to the committee says that it would support a degree of ring fencing in some budget areas as necessary. To which areas should that ring-fencing be attached for budgeting, given the pressures that local authorities are facing?

It is okay.

I was approaching the question from the point of view that Social Security Scotland is a new system and we need to ensure not only that it is an affordable system but that resources are being monitored and costs properly maintained. Turning that question on its head, what lessons will ministers have to learn soon about how best to meet those commitments? Significant additional money will have to be found in the overall budget. Where do you think that that will come from?

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. I want to ask two questions about the forecasting that has been put forward. You outlined an estimated £1 billion in additional expenditure. In your experience, what steps are ministers taking to look at how they will control those pressures in future?

Thank you. Finally, with regard to your experience not only of this budget but across the whole portfolio of policies in the Parliament, what would you like to see—specifically for this committee around social security—to improve the processes that we have in place to follow resources? Thinking back to my time on the Health and Sport Committee, whenever we did budget scrutiny, it was incredibly difficult to follow a taxpayer pound through the national health service. From your experience, do you want to put any learning around that on the record?

Good morning, Sara. You might not be able to answer this today, but have you seen any data about councils that suspended care packages during the pandemic—there has been a lot of pressure from that in Edinburgh—and have not restored them? Do you have any examples of that? It has forced more people to leave their work to take up full-time unpaid care roles.

Throughout the passage of the legislation, concerns have been raised. I have been taken by what industry experts and those who are on the front line, whose businesses will be impacted have said. They feel that the order will have unintended consequences and that it has the potential to impact negatively on a very fragile sector. Given the impact that the pandemic has had, we should be mindful of that.

I do not believe that the Scottish ministers have considered the alternatives in good faith. For example, a registration scheme has been suggested to the committee as an alternative to a licensing scheme. That would achieve the outcomes that ministers have set out.

I am concerned that what is proposed goes too far, which is the argument that the industry makes in its letter to the First Minister. The authors of the letter—the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, the Professional Association of Self Caterers UK, Scottish Agritourism, Scotland’s Best B&Bs, the Scottish Bed & Breakfast Association and Scottish Land & Estates—say:

“Make no mistake, this onerous and costly licensing scheme will cause many traditional self-caterers and B&B operators to leave the sector—hitting the supply chain and local economies in the process—and reducing the diversity of accommodation available and Scotland’s capacity to welcome visitors to our country.”

With all that in mind, and given the impact that the pandemic has had, I do not believe that the order should be approved. Therefore, I ask the committee to vote against the motion.

A key aspect that I think you accepted in your opening statement was that most of the concerns that have been raised have been about a certain few areas in the country—tourism honeypots, for want of a better word. Witnesses have argued that the Government has taken a disproportionate approach in introducing a Scotland-wide licensing system. What assessment has taken place of the control areas that have been put in place and why has a Scotland-wide scheme been seen as necessary when the issue is seen as being very much around key pressured tourism areas?