Hansard

I am glad that I do not have to choose between Glasgow and Edinburgh in that debate. I am thankful that I represent Central Scotland, which means that I am bang in the middle and get to go to both cities with ease.

I congratulate David Torrance on securing cross-party support for the debate, and I give a huge welcome to our showpeople in the public gallery, who are here not only to listen to our debate but to attend the event that will take place thereafter.

It has been said in many contributions this evening that the funfair culture is important in Scotland and across the United Kingdom, and members have shared stories of their childhood memories of visiting funfairs. For me, the memories are of the Bellshill street fair, which took place every year on the last weekend in May. It was amazing. I have a brief memory, from when I was seven or eight years old, of the dodgems, the waltzers, the helter-skelter and the Ferris wheel. All those things were contained in one big street in Bellshill, and it was amazing to be there and take part in all the different attractions.

John Mason made an important point just moments ago. Like many funfairs, including the one in his constituency, the annual Bellshill street fair was cancelled back in 2018. That was a result of various issues, one of which was that the funfair itself did not have sufficient means to carry on, and the committee was falling apart. There were also issues in relation to licensing laws. There was talk at one point of a rethink about bringing back the Bellshill street fair—about how to modernise it and about all the issues that meant that it might not take place. However, to my knowledge, there has been no real discussion since. That is a real shame, because I know many people from the Bellshill area who think fondly of their time visiting the Bellshill street fair.

We seem to be seeing an unnecessary decline in street fairs and travelling fairs—there is a risk of their disappearing entirely, which is why I was pleased to find out that the European Showmen’s Union congress was coming to Edinburgh. It is an opportunity for showmen and showwomen to discuss matters relating to the industry and the importance of preserving its culture. Their resilience and perseverance are important and are integral to the continuation of funfairs and attractions in Scotland.

One of the options to save the many events, funfairs and attractions that we see throughout the year has already been explored this evening, with Jackson Carlaw and others mentioning the bill that was introduced in Parliament by former MSP Richard Lyle—who, I believe, is in the gallery this evening. He rightly stated that travelling entertainers are given very little in the way of licensing leeway. They face overly burdensome and inconsistent application processes that differ from council to council. To put it simply, there is a complete imbalance between councils and those businesses.

Licensing systems appear to work against showpeople at every turn. They are overly complex, tedious and unreliable. Because showpeople spend a lot of time moving around the country, it is difficult for them to pin down local elected members to raise issues with councils to get them rectified. Had Mr Lyle’s bill been successful, councils would have had to grant a licence within 21 days if an operator met certain application requirements. If the council did not respond within those 21 days, the licence would be granted automatically. Crucially, the application fee across the board would have been a grand total of £50. That would have been a fairer way of allowing fairs and attractions to take place across the country.

I appreciate that time is running out in the current parliamentary session—as is my time to speak this evening. However, the question needs to be asked whether, come the next parliamentary session, an MSP will pick up such a bill to try to make the system fairer. I think that it would get cross-party support, as it did the last time around.

There is more to do to support our showpeople in Scotland, but I am delighted to have been able to speak in this debate. I genuinely hope that the problems that we have raised can be rectified and that we can get a response from the cabinet secretary.