Euan Stainbank

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I have never kept it a secret that I am a proud Falkirk boy, I live in our town centre, I do most of my shopping on our high street, and a couple of hours before the Bairns kick-off on a Saturday at 3 pm you will rarely find me more than a few feet far from a pint at one of our town centre pubs. Businesses on Falkirk High Street have for years been calling out for support, whether it be on parking, where the SNP Falkirk council stopped the popular “Free after 3” parking scheme, or the closure of Falkirk town hall in 2022. That was previously a major earner for our town centre on show night. Luckily, a replacement town hall in the centre of Falkirk is finally progressing, with cross-party support. It is something I strongly endorse as a measure to regenerate our town centre. I acknowledge that for businesses across the UK there are challenges, but this is felt sharply in Scotland; about three shops a day closed in 2024. I welcome this Government’s commitment to rebalancing the tax burden away from the high street and towards the out-of-town giants. I urge them to move quickly and firmly in that direction. The Scottish Government must also look at that urgently for our high street.