11. November 2020
11.4 - Thursday 26 November 2020
A. Tourism task force recommendations and cabinet paper
An update was provided on the task force cabinet paper.
1 December remains the target date for the task force paper to be discussed by cabinet.
The paper has now been circulated to all cabinet ministers, the deputy first minister and the first minister for comment, this process has identified additional issues which will need to be addressed.
Concern has been raised that whatever we do regarding the aviation sector it must be in line with climate change targets and environmental expectations, this also applies to international connectivity and international marketing.
Regarding the financial asks that are outlined in the paper, progress is being made on funding support for parts of the sector that have not received as much support as others. Consideration is currently being given to the delivery mechanism for dispersing any such funding. Slower progress is being made on the top up funding proposals. Tourism unfortunately is competing with other sectors of the economy for a share of the consequentials, (consequentials cover health costs, social welfare costs as well as business support costs). The task force paper however has given tourism a head start, discussions on this are expected to conclude over the coming week.
Concern about the timing of any international marketing has been raised.
Phase 2 of the low carbon fund was reviewed yesterday. This included a review of the bids, Tourism has been included in the bids.
Confirmation of funding from the transition training fund has been received for the emerging talent retention and training programme. Detailed design of this programme can now proceed with stakeholders.
Discussions are ongoing with the enterprise agencies, VisitScotland, and Skills Development Scotland to ensure public sector agencies are able to plan the recovery work and then deliver it. This will be done with industry bodies, however it will be a different approach to that taken with Scotland outlook 2030 and the task force paper, as this is a public sector response to the recommendations that have been set out, it is the public sector that will take the lead.
It was noted from the spending review yesterday that the department for digital, culture, media and sport only secured an additional £5m. The next opportunity will be the budget review in March.
That should be the next target for support. It was acknowledged that lobbying activity directed at the department for digital, culture, media and sport may not be having the necessary effect. Longer term money is required to support the recovery plan and therefore we also need to look at possible public / private approaches. It was noted that there is a growing sense of frustration from industry with the UK Government. UK Hospitality press releases which have followed the UK Government’s recent announcements about the tier structures for example, have stated that they are savaging the sector. It is thought that with a vaccine in sight, support for the sector should be accelerated to ensure a strong position for the sector, it was also noted that the roll out of a vaccine should be as rapid as possible, (it was highlighted that there appears to be a stronger push behind vaccinations in England as opposed to Scotland.) The Scottish Tourism Alliance Board raised concern yesterday that Scotland is not seeing the potential opportunity that a rapid vaccine programme could have, this could help Scotland get up and running much more quickly, giving Scotland a real competitive edge and helping to get the international market moving again. It was noted that the importance of international markets cannot be underestimated and will be critical to recovery.
It was stressed that the main concern right now is the immediate support package and confirmation of when this is likely to be announced. The other concern is, will the scale of support offered be sufficient enough to meet the sector’s needs. It was highlighted that it is not just businesses in level 3 or level 4 that are impacted by current restrictions, businesses in level 1 or 2 are also impacted and in some cases have been forced to close as their business is not viable, currently these businesses are excluded from the funding currently being dispersed through the Coronavirus (COVID-19) strategic framework business fund.
It was noted that the language being used to describe business or sector performance should be checked, in particular any reference to a business or sector "having done well". There are some businesses or sectors that have done better than others, however it should be noted that these businesses will have lost a lot during the initial lockdown and will not have done well enough to fully recover - support therefore will still be required.
It was noted that a second letter from five of Scotland’s Hospitality Industry bodies was sent to the Scottish Government on 24 November pursuing a number of assurances and undertakings regarding restrictions on the hospitality sector. It is assumed that the Scottish Government are progressing discussions with these bodies independently.
Mr Ewing will be joining the end of an EU exit round table discussion which is to be hosted by the Scottish Tourism Alliance on 2 December, it is hoped that Mr Ewing will provide attendees with an update on discussions which will have taken place at cabinet on 1 December.
It is expected that the Christmas guidance published today should allow businesses to make the decision about whether they will trade or not over the coming weeks.
It was noted that, in France, president Macron has adopted the Irish approach to grant funding and has stated that “all businesses forced to remain closed during the restrictions, such as restaurants, bars and sports halls, would have the choice of receiving up to €10,000 (£8,900) from a "solidarity fund" or the payment of 20% of their turnover”. The question was asked if this was something that we could look to match in Scotland.
It was highlighted that there are currently many different voices lobbying the Scottish Government which is causing confusion amongst ministers and delaying the funding process. The sector now appears very fragmented and no longer speaks with one voice. This means that there is no longer any clarity about what the ask is. The task force paper was an attempt to get alignment on sector requirements but the lobbying has continued. It was noted that it would be very helpful to have just one representation of what is needed which is proportionate and evidenced and not just a long list of asks. It was questioned whether conflicting industry messages were also happening in England and that could be why progress is not being made there either.
It was acknowledged that the voice of the sector may have become disjointed, however this has probably happened because of the gap between the task force recommendations being concluded in August and the task force paper going to cabinet in December. This delay has created a sense of frustration as many of the task force recommendations were identified as immediate rescue needs.
The task force paper is a great document to focus on, however, it should be accepted that the goal posts have changed over the last eight weeks since the recommendations were put together. (It should be noted however that the VAT extension and the furlough extension have already been delivered).
To improve communication and engagement the Scottish Tourism Alliance will encourage one channel of communication rather than many different channels.
It was noted that the purpose of the STERG industry survey was to cut through the anecdotal evidence and get to the real detail of how different sectors have performed and how different geographical areas have performed, hence it is so important to get a robust and representative sample.
B. STERG industry survey
The STERG industry survey was issued on 19 November.
Over 2,000 responses have been received so far.
The largest sector response so far has been from self-catering businesses.
The largest regional response so far has been from the Highlands.
Concern was noted on the response rate from hotels. STERG partners were asked to encourage responses from hotels, particularly as this was part of the sector who faced some of the biggest challenges.
Action: Riddell Graham to circulate a sectoral and regional breakdown of the responses received so far to STERG partners.
Action: All STERG partners to encourage further survey responses from hotels.
C. Funding update
It is likely that all enterprise agencies will have issued contracts to all successful applicants of the hotel support programme within the next week, subject to the receipt of all supporting documentations from applicants.
Events industry support fund. All offer letters will be issued before the end of next week.
It was noted that one of the key learnings from administering the grant funds is the need to ensure that the eligibility criteria is crystal clear and is set out at the beginning of an application process. This learning will be carried forward to any future funds.
D. STERG scenario planning toolkit
The STERG Coronavirus (COVID-19) scenario planning toolkit for tourism was launched this week on visitscotland.org. Before launch the toolkit was tested with a number of sector organisations to ensure that it was fit for purpose.
The toolkit is intended to help businesses with their planning in times of great uncertainty.
E. Good To Go
There are 7,150 businesses now signed up to the Good To Go scheme.
VisitEngland have recently issued a survey to all accredited businesses to understand how the scheme has worked for them. Results are expected pre-Christmas.
The future of the Good To Go Scheme is currently being considered. It was noted, however, that it will continue into the new year.
Action: All STERG members to feedback their views to Riddell Graham. It was noted that the governance group, which is made up of representatives from VisitEngland, VisitWales, VisitScotland and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board meets regularly so all comments and suggestions can be fed into those discussions.
F. STERG communication and engagement
Information is being collated about the initiatives undertaken by each of the STERG organisations for planned comms activity. A summary of this activity will be circulated to STERG once complete.
Communications to encourage completion of the STERG industry survey will continue. Feedback captured in the survey will inform STERG’s priorities over the coming months.
A STERG update will take place at the Scottish Tourism Alliance's destination member forum on 12 January 2021.
A regular STERG update call with Sector organisations is to take place on a fortnightly basis from January 2021.
G. Business Gateway / Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
The priority is delivering the most recent grants on behalf of the Scottish Government. It was noted that one of the biggest issues that local authorities are having to deal with is questions about eligibility. It was noted that guidance on this is being sought from Scottish Government.
H. Skills Development Scotland
Now that funding has been agreed for the emerging talent retention and training programme, work is underway to finalise the mechanics of the programme. The timing of the programme is particularly important as this will have an influence on the content. A draft programme has already been put together by industry however it is essential that the programme is realistic and meets the needs of individuals and businesses within the agreed timeframe.
A new landing page for the Young Persons Guarantee has gone live on myworldofwork. This includes a section for employers on how they can engage with the young persons guarantee and the kickstart programme.
Approval has been given to proceed with a research project on fair work across some of the key sectors (which includes tourism). The research will seek to understand the issues and challenges faced by businesses, particularly small and rural businesses in implementing fair work. The aim is to commission the project in December for a January 2021 start.
I. Enterprise agencies
The destination managment organisation's support fund from Highlands & Islands Enterprise has its first projects are beginning to come through from the area teams and are starting to be scoped up and developed. No financial support has been awarded yet.
Highlands & Islands Enterprise were recently involved in the visitor management infrastructure sub group meeting with the national parks and are also involved in the rural tourism infrastructure fund process.
Highlands & Islands Enterprise has developed a short term intervention to support capital investment in community led tourism infrastructure. This is being delivered now through anchor organisations and anchor community groups across the Highlands and Islands. Where there is a known infrastructure need for visitors which is led by communities then there is money available for capital spend.
Highlands & Islands Enterprise's tune into tourism podcasts are continuing.
Highlands & Islands Enterprise's let’s grow adventure tourism programme's new cohort are now in week 3.
Highlands & Islands Enterprise will be joining VisitScotland on the cruise webinar which is coming up
J. Scottish Tourism Alliance
A number of businesses have highlighted that furlough is not available to new employees taken on after 31 October. There have been instances where new employees have been taken on and then the business has been forced to close and they have been unable to put the people on furlough. If further restrictions are put in place in January or February, then more businesses are likely to be in that position. This has been raised with Helena Bennett, head of Scotland stakeholder engagement at HM Treasury. UK Hospitality has also raised this as an issue.
Clarity is urgently required on how much notice the current level 4 local authority areas will get before they transition to new levels on 11 December. The current process, (cabinet agreement on the Tuesday for implementation on the Friday), is not believed to be sufficient. It is also not clear on whether the changes will apply from 6am or 6pm. Confirmation is required on whether a further review is to be expected between Tuesday 8 December and the Christmas period. Further changes within this period could make the difference between a business remaining open and being able to trade and having to close. Further clarification is required on whether any changes to level 3 hospitality restrictions, (trading hours or dinks service) can be expected over the Christmas period.
A number of issues have arisen from the Christmas guidance that was published today which has highlighted the need for even greater clarity.
Urgent clarity is sought on whether a festive bubble of three households can stay in self-catering accommodation. The Christmas guidance states that, "Your bubble can meet in a private home, in outdoor public places or in places of worship". Given the Scottish Government’s classification of self-catering as a private dwelling for the purposes of Household regulations it would suggest that this is acceptable. It was highlighted however that the Christmas guidance in relation to tourist accommodation states that, “…During the Christmas period those who are part of a bubble should not stay in tourist accommodation. Only those not part of a bubble should plan on staying in tourist accommodation and should follow the tourist accommodation, socialising and travel rules in the local authority area you are staying. For example: You should only stay with your own household (or extended household) in self-catering accommodation…” This would appear to be conflicting. It was noted that in England, Festive Bubbles can stay in self-catering accommodation.
Greater clarity is required on cross border travel guidance over the period pre, during and post-Christmas.
Strong messaging to visitors travelling from outside of Scotland is needed to ensure that restrictions, (especially around travel), are understood.
The channel for raising questions and managing the responses on the Christmas guidance needs to be made clear.
The next tourism cross-party group will take place on Tuesday 1 December. Marc Crothall will be providing an update.
K. Scottish Government
Scottish Government is having weekly meetings with the hospitality sector to discuss the framework restrictions and how they can be further refined. Latest discussions have been focused on trading hours and not on lifting the alcohol restrictions. The proposed changes in trading hours in level 3 would allow for a second dinner sitting and is more reflective of the time when people would want to eat at lunchtime and dinner time. Although any changes will be very difficult to get through this is where the focus currently lies.
It was noted that the rules around what you can and can’t do pre and post-Christmas can be confusing and that it would be helpful for all if this was clearer.
L. VisitScotland
The VisitScotland regional team met this week and reported that in each of their areas they are still seeing significant investment going on, not necessarily on the accommodation sector but on some other significant projects, some of which are a part of city deals for example in the south of Scotland borderlands.
There were also good future projects noted in the Highlands and the east of Scotland. The regional team will capture this going forward as this is very positive news for the future and will be good to share.
M. Any other business
It was noted that on a recent call to discuss the modern apprenticeship programmes, it was very encouraging to hear that a growing number of businesses have been putting their employees onto modern apprentice programmes, demonstrating a commitment by business to invest in their people in order to develop and grow their human resource and talent despite the difficulties being faced.
N. Next meeting date
The next meeting will convene on Thursday 3 December, 11am - 12pm.
Back to November
Back to 2020
11.3 - Thursday 19 November 2020
A. The role and remit of STERG
The future role and remit of STERG was agreed by all. It was also agreed that the STERG name would not change. The final version will be hosted on visitscotland.org.
It was noted that the two Scottish Government actions arising last week from discussions about STERG’s operating context to establish a reference group within Scottish Government to create a reference group with the CEOs of the public agencies were premature and that these actions should be reconsidered once the cabinet paper is finalised and the asks of the agencies are clearer.
It was noted that a meeting had recently taken place with the agencies and VisitScotland to discuss the roles and responsibilities of the agencies in supporting recovery. The same discussion will take place next week with Skills Development Scotland and Scottish Development International.
B. Tourism task force recommendations and cabinet paper
Bettina Sizeland expressed her thanks to all STERG members for their input into the cabinet paper. All changes have now been incorporated and a revised version, which now includes the financial asks, is currently with cabinet secretary Fergus Ewing. The revised version will be circulated to STERG following feedback from Mr Ewing.
It was noted that nothing further was required from STERG at this point, however, there may be a need to respond at pace to any asks from cabinet ministers once they have reviewed the paper.
Clarification was requested on the process and timing for decisions being made on additional business support for the sector. It was noted that there are two processes running in parallel. The first is the business support submission, this is being progressed separately and is part of a broader submission which is directly related to the consequentials. This will not have to wait to the 1 December when cabinet will review the task force recommendations.
The second is the cabinet paper itself, this will reflect the asks outlined in the business support submission but will not be reviewed until 1 December. It is not clear which of these processes will land first. Consideration is being given to grants for those businesses who have not received the same level of support as others, top ups for those businesses who have support but continue to be impacted or restricted and there are also businesses who will require longer term investment.
C. STERG communication and engagement
To improve STERG communications and engagement, activity is being planned to share the work that STERG has been doing with a wider audience. To support this activity STERG are asked to provide information about the initiatives being undertaken by each organisation.
Action: STERG to send Barbara Clark a summary of what each organisation has delivered through STERG to support businesses and organisations in the last six months, what’s happening now and what is planned to be delivered in the future. Contributions to be received by Friday 20 November.
B. Roadmap to Scotland outlook 2030
A proposal outlining the process, timescales and resources required to transition back to a long term strategic plan, focused on the ambition of Scotland outlook 2030, was considered by STERG. The proposal also included a recommendation to consolidate the three sets of industry Scenario Planning work into one set, which would then be used as a tool to challenge the Scotland outlook 2030 strategy.
It was noted that separate discussions had taken place recently to gain commitment to developing a recovery plan, based on the task force recommendations. It was highlighted that this recovery plan is to be developed at pace for presenting to the Scottish cabinet by December 2020 / January 2021.
Given the urgency of the recovery plan and the high levels of uncertainty that we continue to operate in, it was agreed that this was not the right time to look at a longer term plan. Simplicity, clarity and focus is what is required and it was agreed therefore that there should be one plan only.
It was highlighted that the demand to consolidate the scenario plans was unclear and therefore should not be progressed at this time. It was noted for information that there are some very good commercial scenario plans available.
In summary it was agreed that the long term roadmap to Scotland outlook 2030 would be put on hold and all efforts focused on the recovery plan which will be driven by the task force recommendations. It was noted that the recovery plan will be aligned to the outcomes in Scotland outlook 2030 and therefore should be the start of the roadmap back to the long term strategy vision. This position can be reviewed again once the recovery plan has been completed.
C. Business Gateway / Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
The focus remains on delivering the most recent grants on behalf of the Scottish Government. It was noted that better clarity is required up front on eligibility criteria as this continues to cause issues.
It was noted that it would be helpful if grant schemes were launched by the first minister once the detail of the schemes had been agreed and not before as local authorities do not currently have the capacity to respond to enquiries about new grants where the detail is not available.
D. Skills Development Scotland
Skills Development Scotland are continuing to promote the national transition training fund for individuals who have been made redundant.
The flexible workforce development fund has been expanded in terms of what businesses can apply for. The big change is that small or medium-sized enterprises can now access the fund when previously it was only for employers who were paying the apprenticeship levy.
As part of the hotel support programme skills development Scotland are preparing a skills masterclass promoting the support that is available for skills development. Timing for the delivery of this will be discussed with the enterprise agencies.
Information about what Skills Development Scotland is doing to support the national mission for jobs was forwarded to the Scottish Government team for reference.
E. Enterprise agencies
Highlands & Islands Enterprise's digital enablement grant update at 12 November. £277,000 awarded to 19 tourism applicants (out of a total of 106 applicants circa 18%). Further funding has still to be issued.
The hotel support programme is progressing. South of Scotland Enterprise has issued contracts to most applicants and Scottish Enterprise are expected to start issuing contracts this week. Discussions will take place within the next couple of weeks to look at the requirements of businesses for the wider support package.
F. Scottish Tourism Alliance
On 17 November, Marc was a panellist on the kickstart webinar hosted by Harri from Springboard and UK Hospitality. Over 100 businesses from across the UK took part.
Concern has been raised by some hoteliers about the time it’s taking for the hotel support programme to release funds. There was an expectation that this would happen quite quickly, but this doesn’t seem to be happening.
Continuing to hear that hotels are taking the decision to close their doors until a later period because of the implications of travel, uncertainty of customer confidence to book and not being able to commit to delivering the experience customers expect. This then presents the challenge of knowing what’s open and what’s not open. This also leads to a significant impact on the supply chain on whom we will need to rely on in the future to get back up and running again.
It was noted that the STERG business survey will pick up what is open and what is closed. It was also noted that VisitScotland iCentre staff will be picking this up too. A recent piece of work with the South of Scotland Destination Alliance has provided a comprehensive list of businesses that are open and closed in the Borders and Dumfries & Galloway and this will replicated in other parts of the country.
On 18 November, Marc joined the Peach 2020 conference, (renowned for insight into hospitality and food & drink sector globally). The conference showcased incredible innovation being delivered by hospitality businesses south of the border and demonstrated how businesses are adapting to the future Coronavirus (COVID-19) environment. It was noted that this best practice should be shared where possible.
One of the key challenges highlighted for businesses as they emerge from lockdown in England / level 4 restrictions in Scotland will be the ability of businesses to get their teams back up and running for the period prior to Christmas. It was noted that VisitScotland will be running activity around innovation in the industry either pre-Christmas or in the new year and would welcome any great examples which could be shared.
Scottish Tourism Alliance will convene an EU exit round table discussion on 2 December with the Scottish Tourism Alliance Board and council and Scottish Government officials. Cabinet secretary Fergus Ewing will join the call for the last 30 minutes to provide an update on the cabinet meeting which is to be held on 1 December.
Scottish Tourism Alliance will provide an update on the task force recommendations at the next cross party groups meeting on 1 December.
G. VisitScotland
The STERG business survey will be launched today. STERG are asked to share across all platforms. The survey will also be shared through the economy communications group.
The scenario planning toolkit will be launched on Wednesday 25 November.
#STERG to be used on Twitter
Today VisitScotland joins the tourism declares Initiative. VisitScotland will the first national tourism organisation to join the tourism declares initiative setting out its commitment to responsible tourism and addressing climate change.
H. Scottish Government
Scottish Government team to come back to STERG for further discussion on the UK summit.
Scottish Government team are considering different funding streams including the low carbon fund. A revised tourism proposal will be submitted to this fund for capital investment in the coming weeks.
It was noted that currently there is no fixed timescale for announcing further industry support.
An updated Cabinet paper will be issued to STERG tomorrow.
D. Redundancy update
No further updates were noted.
Action: Redundancy updates from all partners are to be forwarded to Karen Christie prior to the next meeting. Confidentiality of this information is assured.
E. Next meeting date
The next meeting will convene on Thursday 26 November, 11am - 12pm.
Back to November
Back to 2020
11.2 - Thursday 12 November 2020
A. The role & remit of STERG for the next six months
A revised draft of the role and remit of STERG was circulated in advance of the meeting. It was noted that STERG’s responsibility for delivering the task force recommendations was now reflected in that remit. The revised version was agreed by all. The final version will be hosted on visitscotland.org.
Further work is required on the diagram which illustrates the operating context of STERG. The following comments were noted:
Scottish Government officials on STERG will continue to be from the tourism team only
To progress the task force recommendations engagement is required with Scottish Government officials and ministers with portfolios beyond tourism and events, for example, economic development (who have offered a reference group for STERG to work with), skills, local government, health, transport, fair work and climate change. Currently there is no mechanism in place to bring these portfolios together, it was noted that this would need to be created.
Action: The Scottish Government team will look to establish a reference group in Scottish Government that STERG could engage with.
Currently there is no forum for the CEOs of the public agencies involved in STERF to come together to discuss tourism and its priorities. To progress the task force recommendations, it would be beneficial for STERG to be able to engage with a group like that. It was agreed that this would be proposed in the task force paper that will go to cabinet.
Action: the Scottish Government team will put forward a recommendation in the cabinet paper to create a group with the CEOs of the public agencies for STERG to engage with, (it was noted that this group should also include Transport Scotland).
Barbara Clark (VisitScotland) is part of the economic comms group which also has representatives from Scottish Government, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise, South of Scotland Enterprise etc. Good relationships are being built here and a good understanding of tourism has developed.
B. Tourism task force recommendations
The lead organisation for each outcome identified in the task force report, was reviewed and further discussion took place on assigning the lead for outcome 4. The following is agreed:
- Outcome 1 – skills development Scotland lead
- Outcome 2 – VisitScotland lead on demand and sustainability / Business Gateway lead on digital
- Outcome 3 – Scottish Enterprise lead
- Outcome 4 – Scottish Government tourism team
It was agreed that outcome 4 should sit initially with the Scottish Government tourism team. In preparing the task force paper for cabinet, many of the recommendations in outcome 4 have already been discussed and responses are being drafted in collaboration with colleagues in other departments across government.
It was noted that the cabinet paper is work in progress and that further detail was required from STERG members. A draft of the cabinet paper will be circulated to STERG imminently for input.
Action: STERG to provide additional detail as appropriate to be included in the cabinet paper. STERG are asked to respond directly to Bettina Sizeland by Tuesday 17November – earlier if possible.
It was noted that a common template for each of the leads to complete would be helpful. This need will be re-assessed once STERG have had sight of the cabinet paper as this may already contain an appropriate format.
It was noted that it will be important to commission the public agencies to do a formal delivery plan and this will be part of the request that goes into cabinet.
It was advised that the Scottish Government’s budget will be published on 28 January 2021. It was noted therefore that any indication of what recommendations will or won’t be supported would be helpful to have as soon as possible.
It was noted that given the extreme fiscal constraints of the Scottish Government the funding required to deliver the task force recommendations will come from existing and new consequentials. It was noted that over the next couple of weeks it will become clear what can and can’t be covered by the Scottish Government and what we would need to press the UK Government for.
Following the four-way ministerial call that was held last week, Scottish Government officials have been working this week with UK Government officials on the proposed summit. The summit will not only cover the support and investment that is needed for the sector (which will require treasury to be at the table), but also the clinical aspects and the refinement of restrictions.
The target date for this event will be December and it is hoped that the outcome will an agreed set of actions which all four nations support. It was noted on the tourism industry council call earlier in the week that a four nations aligned approach would be appreciated. It was also noted that treasury have been in contact with the Scottish Tourism Alliance to set up an initial introductory call. This will take place next week with a public affairs representative.
C. STERG communication and engagement
Two activities are underway to improve STERG communications and engagement:
- A new, simple branding design is to be considered for the group
- A summary of activity completed STERG is to be collated and communicated
There are a number of initiatives that VisitScotland is currently leading on which will be ready to share in the coming weeks: the Scenario toolkit, the visitor management activity and the new business survey.
VisitScotland website statistics show 60,000 visits to STERG pages and 14,000 to the STERG action plan.
Partner communication channels will be audited to see how VisitScotland can help provide information for them.
Links with the economy communications group are to be strengthened.
D. STERG action plan
It was agreed that once the actions have been identified from the task force recommendations they will be integrated into the STERG action plan.
E. Roadmap to Scotland outlook 2030
A detailed proposal is currently being developed and will be presented to STERG for final sign off.
F. Enterprise agencies
The Hotel Support Programme is progressing and due diligence is continuing.
Highlands & Islands Enterprise are now receiving proposals for destination marketing organisation support funding. It was noted that this is not an open call for applications and normal funding conditions will apply. Highlands & Islands Enterprise is currently working with partners in the region on visitor management activities in preparation for next season.
- A recent survey carried out by the South of Scotland Destination Alliance has highlighted the incredibly challenging position of businesses in the south who are sandwiched between the tight restrictions of level 3 local authority areas in the central belt and the north of England which is currently in lockdown. It is expected that there will be further hotel closures. It was noted that the extension of furlough has lead to some hotels in the south closing over the winter and reopening in spring.
G. Business Gateway / Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
Work continues on delivering the most recent grants on behalf of the Scottish Government. It was noted that the eligibility criteria is causing a significant number of issues however local authorities are doing what they can to get the funds to businesses as soon as possible.
Additional resource for digital boost in the current financial year is still to be confirmed. STERG discussed whether a general digital boost programme meets the needs of the tourism sector or whether a different dedicated tourism programme was needed. All agreed that there should be one mainstream digital boost programme, however there are ways in which this could be tailored to meet the needs of tourism and work is ongoing on this between Business Gateway and VisitScotland.
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities requested that the timeframe for the allocation of the consequentials needs to be shared as soon as possible. It was noted that the Scottish Government is working on proposals for business support packages and the economic modelling to support these proposals is also underway. Packages being considered include business support top ups and support for businesses who have received no support or very limited support so far – further work is still to be done on this. It was highlighted by Scottish Government that there is also a need to consider longer term investment over and above short term business support, this work is also ongoing. Scottish Government advised that there was no confirmed date for agreeing this.
H. Skills Development Scotland
The working group who developed the emerging talent retention and training programme proposal, recently met to review the proposal in light of the fact that furlough has been extended and will be redrafting the proposal to reflect two issues:
- The £2.5 million which is potentially available is part of the national transition training fund, this is focused on those who have been made redundant or are facing redundancy and this needs to be highlighted in the proposal
- Staff who are on furlough, if they are directed by their employer to undertake training then they need to be remunerated for that. This needs to be looked at – should it be a voluntary training scheme? It was highlighted that the Scottish Government team would need the revised proposal as soon as possible, in particular the revised costings to be able to feed into the cabinet paper.
Action: Lawrence Durden to feedback any known changes to the Scottish Government team by the beginning of next week.
The flexible workforce development fund – for employers who are paying the apprenticeship levy, they can access funding up to £15,000 for training, this fund has been increased and will be opened up to small and medium-sized enterprises, non levy paying employers. The understanding is that small and medium-sized enterprises should be able to access funding up to £5,000 per business
Scottish Government asked about progress on the national mission for jobs and what was being done here.
Action: Lawrence Durden to discuss with colleagues at Skills Development Scotland and respond to Scottish Government
I. Scottish Tourism Alliance
Marc Crothall and Stephen Leckie had a private call with the first minister on 11 November. During the call the first minister referenced the fact that grants were being considered and recognised that the sector needed more support from the consequentials.
Regarding the emerging talent proposal, it was noted that businesses need to know as soon as possible what and when decisions will be made on this. Businesses are having to make decisions at pace, particularly around people, to manage cost.
Furlough implications have had an additional impact on business. Furlough is not being seen as a benefit to business, it’s seen as a cost.
It was highlighted that a number of hotels are now closing. Gleneagles will be closed until February, the Hilton on William Street in Glasgow is also closing, all IHG properties are closing and many other hotels. The outbreak in Arran is seeing a voluntary level 4 closure for businesses on the island.
It was noted that businesses on the hotel support programme would welcome a letter providing reassurance that funds will be forthcoming, this would allow for decisions to be taken and commitments made and allow businesses to plan for the future.
The first Scottish agritourism conference is in progress with 150 people attending.
J. VisitScotland
The Visitor Management strategic framework has been signed off and the individual workstreams are populating their parts. It is expected that a report will be presented to the cabinet secretary in December.
The business survey will be issued next week (19 November). STERG members are encouraged to promote the survey through their own channels to encourage responses from a broad range of businesses within the sector, in particular hotels.
Work will be undertaken by VisitScotland to identify the businesses that will or will not be open to ensure that up to date information is available for visitors who are able to travel.
K. Redundancy update
No further updates were noted.
Action: Redundancy updates from all partners are to be forwarded to Karen Christie prior to the next meeting. Confidentiality of this information is assured.
L. Any other business
No any other business was noted.
M. Next meeting date
Tthe next meeting will convene on Thursday 19 November, 11am - 12pm.
Back to November
Back to 2020
11.1 - Thursday 5 November 2020
A. Scottish Government Framework
STERG members discussed the current issues and concerns around the Scottish Government framework. The following points were raised:
The impact of travel restrictions is one of the biggest concerns. Despite restrictions being relaxed for businesses in level 1 and level 2, these businesses, in many cases rely on a customer base from level 3 areas (or other areas of the UK) and therefore are not seeing sufficient footfall to make their businesses viable. It was noted that some businesses in level 1 and level 2 have announced that for the first time they will be closing for the winter as it is not sustainable to keep the doors open. It was also noted that this is impacting not only hospitality but activity providers and visitor attractions. The travel restrictions are also having an impact on level 3 businesses where footfall is again severely limited. It was acknowledged that the first ministers recent clarity on travel restrictions has been helpful for consumers and businesses.
The timely flow of grant support to businesses is a concern.
It was noted that an extraordinary meeting of the Tourism Industry Council was held on Tuesday 3 November with Nigel Huddleston to discuss the national lockdown in England. Mr Huddleston accepted harsh criticism from industry on the lockdown measures and a letter that had been sent to the chancellor from a number of hospitality trade bodies was discussed. The letter proposes a six month package of meaningful support for hospitality businesses, breweries and supply chain.
It was highlighted that going forward, as we move between levels, the guidance on what businesses can and cannot do must be clear and issued in a timely way.
The Scottish Government team is continuing to engage with industry to define the detail of the guidance for tourism and hospitality. It was noted that further recommendations are expected from Industry about potential changes that could be made to meet the needs of business. It was highlighted however that government is still being guided by the medical professionals and therefore there are limits to what can be achieved.
It was noted that consumer confidence should not be underestimated, not just about whether they will or won’t catch the virus but also the ongoing uncertainty about what you can and can’t do.
B. The role and remit of STERG for the next six months
A recent survey issued to STERG members and a limited number of sector and destination organisations, captured feedback on the work of STERG over the last seven months. Findings from the surveys, as well as the original remit of STERG, were considered when discussing STERG’s future role.
Discussions considered a number of different questions, should STERG continue as a response group or should it become a recovery group? Should STERG continue its coordination and communication role or should it now all be about delivery?
The following points were noted during discussions:
- Coordination and communication has been a core role for STERG and there is a need for this to continue
- Many of the STERG partners highlighted that they are still in response mode and therefore there is still a need to continue with this role
- It was recognised that STERG also needs to look forward and there is an expectation in the Task Force report that STERG will deliver the task force recommendations. Delivery therefore must be considered a part of STERG’s role
- It was acknowledged that the work currently being done to support industry survival and recovery is vitally important however it is also important not to lose sight of the future. There is a need for an ‘entity’ to be taking the long term view also
- The current dynamic of STERG is working well, frequent meetings and the size of the group allows it to be fleet of foot and this is seen as a key strength
- It was highlighted that there are different levels of seniority within STERG and therefore it was important for senior leaders from partner organisations to be aware of STERG activity and the potential expectations placed on their organisations
An update was provided on the current status of the task force report.
A call with UK Ministers will take place 5 November. The task force report and recommendations have been circulated to them and a request has been made for a joint political and industry discussion with the treasury.
The cabinet paper will be presented on 1 December. This is to allow for financial modelling work to be completed and submitted alongside the cabinet paper. This timing meets the timeline for the spending review.
In terms of delivery the current STERG members are the right organisations, however, it is recognised that engagement with senior leaders is vital.
Going forward the focus needs to be on delivering the task force recommendations to get us back on track to delivering the 2030 strategy.
Overall it was agreed that STERG still had a role to play in continuing to respond to the immediate impacts of the pandemic and therefore those elements of the current remit should still stand.
It was also noted that it was important for the coordination and communication role to continue, although it was recognised that improvements could be made here.
Finally, it was agreed that the role of STERG did need to evolve to also focus on the delivery of the Task Force recovery recommendations.
Action: STERG remit to be refreshed to reflect the agreed evolution of the group. Updated version to be signed off by STERG on 12 November.
Action: STERG to review how it can improve engagement levels with more senior leaders in partner organisations, the task force representatives and the broader industry in general.
C. Tourism task force recommendation
STERG discussed the outcomes and recommendations outlined in the task force report and agreed that a lead organisation from STERG should be assigned to each outcome. The lead organisation, in collaboration with other STERG partners, will scope out the recommendations into actions.
Each lead should review the recommendations under each of the outcomes and clarify:
- Is it already being addressed in the STERG action plan?
- Do any of the STERG partners have activity going on in this space?
- If it’s not being addressed in the STERG Plan, or by a STERG partner then there is a need to identify what should the action be, who should lead on it and what other partners / organisations should be involved and what the approximate cost would be
It was highlighted that the enterprise agencies typically take a cross sectoral approach rather than a sector specific approach and therefore it may be challenging to have a specific focus on tourism. However, although support may be generic, it is often tourism businesses who are benefiting from this support it’s just that this is not immediately obvious. There is possibly a lot of cross sectoral activity underway which would support the recommendations from the task force.
It was highlighted that a meeting was required between the Scottish Government and senior leaders of the enterprise agencies to ensure that the expectation of the role of the agencies in supporting the delivery of the task force recommendations is clear. It was noted that progress in this area was underway.
It was noted that the recommendations targeted at the UK Government will be the responsibility of the Scottish Government tourism team and the Scottish Tourism Alliance with its lobbying role on behalf of industry.
Outcome 1: We will attract, develop and retain a skilled, committed, diverse and valued workforce.
Assigned lead, Skills Development Scotland
A lot of work is already in progress within Skills Development Scotland which will help to address this outcome – this needs to be identified.
The proposal for a Scottish tourism emerging talent employee retention and training programme, which was submitted by a task force working group, is still being considered by the Scottish Government. Funding has been identified for the training element of the programme however no progress has been made on identifying funding for the wage subsidy element.
The task force working group will reconvene on 9 November to review and develop the proposal particularly around access to funding.
It was noted that a lot of the work Skills Development Scotland undertakes is cross-sector and therefore the particular challenge within Skills Development Scotland will be ensuring a focus on tourism and addressing the areas that the task force report highlights.
It was agreed that a direct instruction from the Scottish Government to Skills Development Scotland detailing the need to support the tourism sector would be helpful. This would ensure that budgets are repurposed for the sectors that need it most, for example tourism.
Action: Scottish Government to set up a meeting with Skills Development Scotland to discuss the repurposing of budgets.
It was highlighted that the task force report outlines asks for industry as well as the Scottish and UK governments. For this particular outcome it was noted that the adoption of fair work principles was key. It was acknowledged that this is also at the heart of Scotland outlook 2030 and this is what the sector is working towards.
Outcome 2: We Will create and develop a sustainable destination together.
Boosts demand for tourism sectors: assigned lead, VisitScotland
Many of the recommendations outlined here are already underway with VisitScotland
Boosts investment in the tourism sectors for growth and environmental sustainability: assigned lead, Business Gateway.
Business Gateway will work in partnership with VisitScotland on the recommendations which relate to digital solutions to support tourism.
VisitScotland will liaise with the Scottish Government tourism team and contacts at Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise on reducing carbon emissions.
It was noted that there is no commitment to any kind of coordinating mechanism for developing sustainable destinations, for example a destination managment organisation, this seems like an obvious gap, there should be something included.
Outcome 3: We will provide the very best, authentic and memorable experiences.
Assigned lead, Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Enterprise is current lead for the destination leaders programme, however, it was noted that funding for this programme is due to come to an end.
Regarding support for innovation, it was noted that Scottish Enterprise have moved away from sector specific support.
Outcome 4: We will build business resilience, sustainability and profitability.
Due to the diversity of recommendations under outcome 4, it was agreed that further consideration should be given to who would be best placed to lead in these areas.
It was noted that some of the recommendations would sit with the Scottish Government for example non-domestic rates work, tax work. It was highlighted that some of the recommendations such as the re-evaluation of rates or non-domestic rates holiday will have a significant implication for local authorities and therefore local authorities will need to play a key role in these discussions.
In terms of enforcement it was suggested that it would be good to have a view from local authority / industry perspective and therefore a Local Authority representative would be better to lead. The only issue to flag here however is that there will be Brexit implications to deal with and therefore there could be resource issues.
Clarity was required on who would be the right contact to help further develop what a reasonable working capital package might look like. In particular, additional insight from the economic development teams at local authorities or finance colleagues.
It was noted that grants issued through local authorities were in effect working capital. Based on lessons learned it is important to recognise two points, firstly that grants get to the right business, i.e. the business that needs it and secondly that the eligibility criteria is kept simple to avoid mass confusion.
It was recommended that a longer time is spent planning what it is that is trying to be achieved, it was also recommended that more resources are made available to assist this and finally it was noted that support packages should not be announced until the support is actually available.
D. Investment prospectus
The task force recommendations and the subsequent delivery plan will support survival and recovery and includes asks for financial support from the Scottish and UK governments, however, in addition, the sector needs to move to a more sustainable footing in terms of long-term financing and investment.
The current approach to the development of inward investment could be seen as piecemeal and consideration should be given to a better more coherent investment strategy and a first step towards this would be putting together what the investable offer is.
Typically, it has been the enterprise agencies who have developed investment prospectuses. Historically Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International have developed an investment prospectus for each of the key sectors, this is no longer the approach being taken. The approach now being considered is a regional investment prospectus which brings together all of the partners from a place perspective, across all sectors and showcases the investment opportunities for that place.
Following the meeting a recent presentation on Scotland’s new Inward Investment strategy was shared with the group. It is noted that tourism is not one on the nine areas of opportunity identified for inward investment.
It was noted that in terms of sector recovery and survival there is a gap between what industry is asking for and what is affordable by the public sector and therefore there is a need to bring in other investors to help us achieve what we need to do.
E. Transition to a low carbon economy (see outcome 2)
There is a need to understand what the requirement is in this area.
It was highlighted that there is potential budget available from the low carbon fund to support low carbon initiatives in the tourism area.
It was noted that there is specific resource within the Scottish Government tourism team with expertise in this area. It was also noted that there is resource within Scottish Enterprise looking at how tourism can contribute to this agenda.
It was noted that VisitScotland is doing a lot of work in this space and therefore would take a coordinating role here with the Scottish Government team, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise input.
F. Asks of cabinet
“Commission further work by the Enterprise agencies and VisitScotland to develop the priorities as a five year recovery programme for Scottish Government spending review consideration dependent on availability of additional funding from UK grants.”
It was recommended that this is progressed and that ideally a draft should be presented to cabinet alongside the cabinet paper on 1 December.
It was noted that the leads identified for each of the outcomes will first need to scope out the actions, including a lead organisation and an estimated cost for delivery. Following that all STERG partners around the table will work together to pull together a delivery plan outlining how the agencies and VisitScotland will support the sector.
G. STERG action plan
It was recognised that the STERG action plan contains a significant level of detail about the activities that are in progress across all of the STERG partners and that it was important for this detail not to be lost.
It was noted that a working group meets regularly to ensure the plan is kept up to date and as new information is received, new actions are added.
It was highlighted that the current plan already contains actions which respond to the task force recommendations and therefore there is a logic to tying both of these documents together. This could be done by relating the actions in the STERG plan back to the outcomes identified in the task force report.
Action: Karen Christie to integrate the STERG action plan with the task force Recommendations, this will ensure we don’t lose sight of what we’ve got but it also identifies the gaps that need to be filled in terms of funding, allocating responsibility etc.
It was noted that the value of the current plan is not clear, nor is the readership. Feedback from the STERG surveys suggests that it is difficult to navigate and difficult to pick out what is relevant to the reader. This is a communication challenge and should be addressed.
The question was raised as to whether STERG should now solely focus on the delivery of the task force recommendations which would negate the need to capture other activities that are taking place?
H. STERG communication
Feedback from the recent STERG surveys which were issued to STERG members and a number of sector and destination organisations, highlighted that the communication of STERG’s role and the activities that STERG is involved with could be improved.
With regard to communicating the role of STERG in delivering the task force recommendations it was noted that STERG, as a priority, needs to agree a number of key messages - the role of STERG moving forward, what it is STERG going to deliver, what is the funding that will be available and what is the timing. It was noted that this information may not become available until after Cabinet has discussed the recommendations on 1 December.
It was noted that there are many tactics that can be employed across various different platforms to raise the profile of STERG and bring STERG to life, video content, webinars etc. however getting the key messages right first were the most important.
It was agreed that interim communications should be considered to highlight some of the work that STERG is already undertaking in response to the task force recommendations or in response to other challenges which have been faced by industry. This should provide reassurance that STERG is continuing to progress key actions.
Action: VisitScotland to look at an interim communications plan.
I. STERG engagement
It was agreed that the current make-up of STERG would not change in the short term. However, it was acknowledged that STERG does need to look at how it can better engage with senior representatives in all partner organisations as well as with a broader section of the industry, in particular sector groups and destination management organisations.
It was recognised that it was important to have closer engagement with key industry stakeholders in this next phase and that the Scottish Tourism Alliance was well placed to facilitate this.
Scottish Tourism Alliance member forums were noted as a good, existing platform that could be used by STERG to bring organisations together to seek views and opinions on recovery / action plans. There a three forums, hospitality member forum, destination member forum and tourism sector member forum. Forums have the flexibility to be convened when needed.
It was also acknowledged that although the task force was a short life group, specifically established to provide recommendations on the essential actions to support tourism and hospitality recovery, there should be a mechanism to keep the task force engaged with the progress being made on the recommendations and to look at how willing task force members could play an active part in the process.
J. A Roadmap to Scotland outlook 2030
A proposal outlining the process and timescales for segueing back to Scotland outlook 2030 was circulated to STERG members in advance of the meeting. All STERG members agreed with the approach outlined and agreed that the proposal should now be scoped in further detail to understand resource commitment.
Action: Karen Christie to scope a detailed proposal for STERG approval.
It was noted that there is no longer an active tourism leadership group and it was proposed that a new governance structure should be considered over the next six months. It was highlighted that when the time is right this new structure could be the group that would take ownership of the longer term recovery plan and the transition back to Scotland outlook 2030.
K. Any other business
A new Coronavirus (COVID-19) industry impact survey is to be launched by VisitScotland during November. This survey, which follows on from the two industry impact surveys that were conducted in March, will be targeted at all businesses across the sector.
A draft of the questionnaire was circulated to STERG members for comment.
Action: STERG members to feedback comments to Karen Christie by Friday 6 November.
L. Next meeting date
The next meeting will convene on Thursday 12 November, 11am - 12pm.
Back to November
Back to 2020
