SRC members meet with ScotGov ahead of budget
MEMBERS of the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) have met with economy secretary and deputy first minister Kate Forbes to discuss support for retail in the upcoming Scottish budget.
The meeting followed the publication of the SRC’s ‘Realising the Growth Ambition’ paper, which laid out recommendations to ScotGov over the issue.
In its paper, the SRC has suggested some key recommendations for the Scottish Government to consider to support further investment into the country’s retail sector.
These include:
• Injecting certainty into fiscal decisions through a two-year Budget Accord with Opposition MSPs leading up the next Holyrood election.
• The bulk of any gap in Scottish Government finances tackled by spending restraint rather than tax rises which could stymie economic recovery.
• Bolstering consumer spending by ruling out increases in income tax rates.
• Shelving the misbegotten mooted business rate surtax on larger grocery stores.
• Restoring the level playing field with England for firms paying the Higher Property Rate.
• Freezing the Basic, Intermediate and Higher Property Rates for 2025-26.
• Ruling out making licences to trade and eligibility for business rates relief conditional on payment of the ‘real living wage’.
The SRC has argued that the measures would support retailers in the next fiscal year and provide security make further investments in the field up until the next Holyrood election.
This all comes off the back of recent figures from the SRC that claimed the number of retail jobs in Scotland has slumped by 30,000 and there were 500 fewer stores.
David Lonsdale, director of the SRC, said: “We recognise this will be a challenging budget for Scottish ministers as they seek to balance a stark fiscal outlook while trying to stimulate greater levels of economic growth.
“These are unsettling times, too, for retailers, despite the industry having shown tremendous fortitude and resilience to come through the tribulations of the past few years of Covid and the costs crunch.
“Trading conditions remain tough and the only fixed point in a world of flux for the industry seems to be rising costs that are near impossible to absorb, which means they are likely to be passed on to shoppers.
“To provide greater certainty, a two-year Budget Accord with Opposition MSPs could provide a more strategic and less piecemeal approach to devolved policy making.”
