Hansard

PE2179, which has been lodged by Gavin Templeton, calls on the Scottish Government to strengthen veto powers when assessing business improvement district proposals. This is the first of two BID-related petitions that we will consider today. It calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to require local authorities to veto proposals for business improvement districts if the levy due to be paid by businesses is not proportional to the rateable value of properties and to introduce a duty on Scottish ministers to take such levy proportionality into account in any decisions regarding BID proposals.

A business improvement district is a formal partnership of businesses and other organisations that works together to improve a defined area, often a town centre or a shopping area within a city. The Scottish Parliament information centre briefing explains that a proposal for a BID has to set out the levy to be paid by individual businesses before a vote takes place to establish the BID formally. All businesses located in the area are balloted and a majority of businesses, by both number and rateable value, are required to vote in favour of a BID before it can progress. A local authority can veto a BID under certain circumstances, including if it considers that the levy will lead to a significantly disproportionate financial burden being imposed on any person or business entitled to vote in the ballot.

The petitioner asks that the ability for local authorities to veto a BID proposal should become a requirement in the above circumstances. In additional submissions, both the petitioner and the campaign group Unfair Nae Mair express a number of concerns, supported by examples, regarding the impact of existing legislation on small businesses and the lack of a mechanism for local authorities to assess BID proposals fairly and consistently.

Our SPICe researchers asked Scotland’s Towns Partnership whether any local authority had ever vetoed a BID proposal. The response was that STP was not aware of any such instances.

The Scottish Government submission reiterates that existing legislation enables veto powers for local authorities, but it does not address the petition’s ask for that power to be made a requirement. The Government states that there are no plans to review or amend existing BID legislation during this parliamentary session, given the potential cost and resource implications of such work. The Scottish Government does not see a benefit to introducing a duty on Scottish ministers to take levy proportionality into account in decisions regarding BID proposals. The Government’s view is that the management and governance of a BID are matters for the BID itself. It also states that local authorities have better knowledge and intelligence of the local context and that involving Scottish ministers would add a further level of bureaucracy and complication—that point inevitably being true. Are there any comments or suggestions for action?