Chamber and committees

Thank you very much.

Some of my constituents who live in Ratho, Bonnington Cottages, Hermiston village and Blinkbonny need support for energy efficiency and decarbonisation improvements. Many people are unaware that Home Energy Scotland’s grant and loan scheme offers a rural uplift. What work is the Scottish Government doing to ensure that rural households are aware of all the home energy funding opportunities that are available to them?

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I thank those members who supported my motion so that this debate could take place, and I also welcome to the gallery members of the Scottish Grocers Federation, who, back in 2017, were instrumental in support of my steps to establish the cross-party group on independent convenience stores.

The most recent Scottish local shop report—“The Scottish Local Shop Report 2023”—was produced by the Scottish Grocers Federation and the Association of Convenience Stores, and it has been distributed to all members in the past couple of weeks. That annual report highlights not only the contribution of the sector to the Scottish economy but, more important, the essential contribution that convenience stores make to the communities that they serve.

Across Scotland, there are 5,171 convenience stores, many of which are open 24/7. They are an important source of employment, providing more than 49,000 local jobs for local people, from a first job for a young person to a route back into employment for someone balancing family or caring commitments, given the flexible hours that they offer. Our economy also benefits, because those retailers not only provide jobs in their own businesses but support employment across the town or city in which they are located through their use of local tradesmen, produce suppliers, shopfitters, garages and local legal and accountancy firms.

In the past year, convenience stores have invested £62 million in their businesses, purchasing refrigeration equipment, shelving, signage, lighting and new technology, again supporting employment in the wider economy. A survey by Scotland’s Towns Partnership found that 91 per cent of Scots recognised that choosing local businesses supported local jobs and employment opportunities. In addition, choosing local keeps money circulating in the local community for longer, reduces unnecessary journeys and helps to tackle the climate crisis.

Why shop local? In my constituency of Edinburgh Pentlands and across the country, 83 per cent of convenience stores offer mobile top-ups; 76 per cent offer bill payment services; 47 per cent have free ATMs; and 27 per cent have post offices. Others offer online shopping with home delivery included. The data also highlights that 36 per cent of convenience stores are in rural areas, with another 27 per cent in outlying parts of our cities and towns. Those stores provide a focal point for communities, as they are often the only retailer in the area.

The stores carry a wide range of products, and the Scottish local shop report highlights that, in an average independent convenience store, 4,735 individual products are stocked during the course of a year, including staple items such as bread, milk, toiletries and pet food. Those stores become a meeting place for locals and are therefore more than just places to shop; they are vital community hubs, with services such as post offices, parcel collection and bill payment facilities. They also provide cashback services and free-to-use ATMs, which customers might use to make purchases in other businesses nearby, thereby supporting the growth of the local economy.

The Scottish Government’s policy is to encourage local living and the development of 20-minute neighbourhoods where people can meet most of their daily needs within a reasonable distance of their home. Convenience stores are, by their very nature, at the heart of that policy, given that 51 per cent of store customers live within a quarter of a mile of their nearest retailer and 59 per cent of those customers travel to their local store by foot or bike. Because those stores are at the heart of their communities, the average customer visits their convenience store nearly three times per week. Indeed, according to the report, 36 per cent know the people who run and work in their local shop very well or quite well.

As a result of the close connection with local residents, 81 per cent of retailers have been engaged in some form of community activity in the past year. That takes many forms, including collecting for charities, providing funding for local events or sponsoring local sports teams. That close relationship between store owners and customers is highlighted in one example from my constituency. Linda and Dennis Williams have run the Oxgangs Premier store for 40 years, and now run it along with their daughter Sophie. During the pandemic, they realised that many of their customers were struggling to put food on the table, so they decided to set up a coronavirus hardship fund, using their own money to help the most vulnerable members of the local community, and asked the community to match the fund with the aim of raising a total of £500.

I absolutely agree. In addition, as some stores deliver to homes where people are housebound or have caring responsibilities, they can keep an eye on the most vulnerable in society. I thank Audrey Nicoll for that intervention—the only issue is that I have forgotten where I am in my speech now.

To the Williams’s surprise, they hit their initial target in the space of 24 hours, with the support of the local community. However, as more people became aware of the much-needed initiative to help those struggling during the pandemic, they continued to receive money and eventually raised more than £10,000.

The hardship fund was handed out in small amounts, with no questions asked, to ensure that the money was used to help as many people as possible, whether to pay for food or household bills. Their efforts made a huge difference to many in the community and they rightly received wide recognition, winning a number of awards. Those included, last month, the Raj Aggarwal trophy from the Association of Convenience Stores, which is awarded to retailers who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to community retailing over the past year, supporting their colleagues, customers and fellow retailers and representing the very best of community retailing.

The convenience store sector has faced many hardships in recent years, from the financial crash of 2008 to the pandemic, Brexit food shortages and now inflationary pressure on overheads. Earlier this year, the Scottish Government offered support by funding the go local project, offering a match-funded grant worth up to £5,500 per store for convenience shop owners to provide dedicated long-term display space for locally sourced, fresh and healthy Scottish products. Stores that took part in the initial pilot saw a 40 per cent increase in sales of local products and delivered additional local economic benefits in excess of £159,000 per store. The initiative also enabled stores to support Scottish producers and give those businesses a vital route to market, helping with recovery and regrowth from Covid-19.

At a time when households and businesses are bearing the brunt of Westminster’s cost of living crisis, it is right that we celebrate the hard work and resilience of Scotland’s convenience store sector.

Alasdair Ross, is voting for projects and so on the most effective way to allocate funds?

I have a final question, which is for Jim Grant. Moray Council’s written submission says:

“Projects funded which have a region wide remit are perhaps finding it difficult to engage with areas such as Moray with which they have had no previous connections for delivery of services meaning the benefit may be concentrated in Aberdeen.”

Can you elaborate on that?

Thank you very much.

Good afternoon. We have touched on participatory budgeting. I was interested to hear a comment that Jim Grant made earlier. You said that you already do extensive engagement with the community, and you gave a long list of examples. What impact has the £1 million that has gone into participatory budgeting had?

Alison Stuart, in the presentation that you gave this morning you highlighted that there was an increase in participation from year 1 to year 2 of, I think, 62 per cent, if I picked that up correctly.

It was great to see the 62 per cent increase in the number of people taking part. However, if you look at the age profile, you see that the under-25s were a very small proportion of the total number. How will you improve the engagement process for the under-25s?