Political decisions have a big impact on businesses across the far north
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Chamber Comment by Trudy Morris
With so many other concerns facing business owners, and so much time spent in the day-to-day business of keeping things running smoothly, the discussions held and decisions made by our elected representatives at Westminster and Holyrood can often seem abstract and divorced from reality.
Yet it has never been clearer that those decisions – too often made without hearing and understanding the voice of those they affect – have real impacts on the lives and livelihoods of businesspeople across Scotland.
One of the chamber’s core aims is to be the “voice of business” in the north Highlands, and I believe that to be one of the most valuable services we have to offer to our members.
It may not be one where it is easy to see an immediate, tangible benefit, but as the representative body for over 220 businesses across the region we can ensure that key business concerns are brought to the attention of decision makers across the country.
My board and I recently had meetings with both Maree Todd MSP and Jamie Stone MP to do just that. It is clear that 2021 has been a uniquely challenging year for businesses across the north Highlands and we felt it was important to ensure that our local representatives heard directly from us on our concerns.
One issue discussed which has the potential to have a devastating impact on businesses in the region is the proposed return of the VAT rate on hospitality and tourism to 20 per cent. We have long called for a reduction in VAT on this sector to bring the UK in line with European counterparts, and its reduction to five per cent during the Covid-19 pandemic was a clear lifeline for businesses.
To pull this lifeline away from the sector at the start of 2022 risks fatally damaging our economic recovery from the pandemic and would come as another burden on businesses which are already struggling with a range of issues.
We are asking our representatives to lobby hard for the rate to be retained at the 12.5 per cent it was raised to from October 1, one which strikes a good balance between national policy needs and the realities of doing business.
To take an issue which initially seems abstract in the extreme, we were disappointed recently to learn that the Scottish Government takes a neutral policy when it comes to fusion power.
This clearly does not have a direct impact on any business in the north Highlands, and yet when considered in the context of the recent disappointing decision by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) not to progress with the region’s bid to host the prototype STEP reactor, it does give pause for thought.
This bid had the potential to bring significant investment and long-term skilled employment to the region. While we are certain there were a range of factors involved in UKAEA’s decision, it is hard not to think that a more full-throated support from Scottish Government for fusion as part of Scotland’s clean energy mix might have helped to tip the scales.
Similarly, the details of the proposed UK Shared Prosperity Fund are not of immediate importance to any given business in the region. Yet, when one looks at how much infrastructural investment in the region – and consequent direct and indirect benefit to business – was generated via the European Structural Funds this is to replace, it seems a much less abstract issue.
Every decision made at Westminster and Holyrood, from education and skills to healthcare and justice, has the potential to impact meaningfully on how we do business. Making sure that schools and colleges are giving young people the right skills is vital to developing our future workforce. Ensuring great healthcare and safe communities is key to attracting people to live and work in the north Highlands.
The voice of business needs to be heard across all policy areas, no matter how abstract and unrelated to our daily lives they first seem. The chamber will continue to ensure that this voice is heard not just by our local MP and MSP, but at the highest levels of government.
- Trudy Morris is chief executive of Caithness Chamber of Commerce.
