Meeting of the Parliament 17 December 2025
I completely agree with Fergus Ewing. Scottish ministers do have the power, they make the rules and it is in their gift to pause the revaluation and change the methodology. Hotels, self-catering businesses and retail hospitality operators are absolutely terrified of the revaluation’s impact on them. The Government must pause it, and I ask Richard Lochhead to address that in his closing speech.
All of those issues form an economic environment in Scotland that is far from helpful. Small businesses feel as though they are an afterthought. Sometimes, they believe that the Government treats them like the enemy. Too many small businesses feel that their concerns are acknowledged only after decisions have already been made, instead of those concerns being meaningfully considered from the outset. Policies are often designed with large organisations in mind, leaving smaller firms to absorb the same costs and comply with the same rules without having the resources to do so.
Small businesses do not think that Holyrood helps them. They do not think that the Parliament understands business or gets the challenges that they face. They feel that entrepreneurial risk taking is not rewarded. Every year, they face bigger bills and the burden of more rules and regulations, which stifles innovation.
The knock-on consequences are that our economy does not grow as quickly as it should, and, because economic growth is critical to increasing tax revenue, that means that there is less money to fix and improve public services. It cannot go on like that. More growth means more money to target spending effectively and efficiently. A rising economy is essential to produce the higher tax revenues that our NHS, our schools and all our public services need.
I believe that the Government’s attitude to business must change. Given that it is the festive season, perhaps we can hope for a Christmas miracle—a miracle in which the SNP stops acting like Scrooge to Scotland’s small businesses and instead begins to celebrate, champion and encourage their efforts. That is exactly what needs to happen.
Practically every year, we hear the SNP promise to reset the relationship with the business community, but, like a new year’s resolution, the promise is never kept. In 2026, there must be a major reset in Scotland’s economic approach so that Government encourages aspiration instead of just taxing ambition, and Scotland is once again open for business. That is what the Scottish Conservatives want to see, and, in 2026, that commitment must be kept.
The Government also needs to make a serious effort to cut red tape. My party has proposed a reduction of red tape bill that would give businesses the opportunity to apply for regulations to be repealed or amended. That bill should be adopted by the Government and introduced to Parliament, because cutting red tape would help attract more investment, give Scotland’s economy the chance to thrive, give entrepreneurs a hand and spur innovation.
However, the biggest things that the Government could do to help small businesses would be to reduce their bills to make the cost of doing business more affordable; commit to bringing down business rates; overhaul the system so that it is fairer; and stop viewing tax cuts as morally wrong. After all, businesses earn that money.