Programme for Government, An Economy Fit for the Future
That the Parliament notes the publication of the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, Ambitious for Scotland, and its aims for a strong and sustainable economy; welcomes the commitment to deliver economic growth and make Scotland the best place to invest and do business; recognises that raising living standards through supporting the creation of more good, secure and well-paid jobs, can help generate the resources needed to invest in high-quality public services; believes that the transition to low carbon industries, including renewable energy, can create economic opportunity and strengthen Scotland’s future competitiveness in order to benefit people and communities across Scotland; welcomes continued investment in infrastructure, connectivity and innovation so that more opportunities can be realised in Scotland, and supports action to increase climate resilience and tackle the climate and nature emergencies.
Further details available for S7M-01070
Programme for Government, An Economy Fit for the Future
As an amendment to motion S7M-01070 in the name of Stephen Flynn (Programme for Government, An Economy Fit for the Future) insert at end “recognises that reforms to the skills system, including interventions to help those who are economically inactive, are required to drive growth and allow individuals to realise their potential; understands that real partnership between public and private sectors will be key to producing better outcomes across the economy, and calls on the Scottish Government to outline how its plan for regional devolution will operate to give regions the tools they need to grow local economies and increase prosperity in their communities.”
Further details available for S7M-01070.1
Programme for Government, An Economy Fit for the Future
As an amendment to motion S7M-01070 in the name of Stephen Flynn (Programme for Government, An Economy Fit for the Future), leave out from “recognises” to end, and insert "believes, however, that successive policies of the Scottish Government have done the opposite, with high energy costs, high taxes and high welfare preventing economic growth; recognises that creating good, secure and well-paid jobs is vital for Scots to be able to build their own healthy and prosperous lives and that these can only be created with economic growth; believes that if Scotland wants real economic growth, it needs cheap, abundant, reliable energy, which is best delivered by maximising oil and gas over the medium-term, and transitioning to nuclear power over the long-term, with renewables playing a complementary role rather than a dominant one.
Further details available for S7M-01070.4
Programme for Government, An Economy Fit for the Future
As an amendment to motion S7M-01070 in the name of Stephen Flynn (Programme for Government, An Economy Fit for the Future), leave out from first "; welcomes" to end and insert "and to raise living standards, invest in high-quality public services, increase climate resilience and tackle the climate and nature emergencies; further notes the Prime Minister's stated intention to develop a new economic model and his criticism of four decades of neoliberalism; believes that significant changes to both UK and Scottish policy will be needed to turn this ambition into reality; calls on both governments to develop long-term strategies to expand public and community ownership in the economy with an immediate focus on municipal bus services, public stakes in renewable energy and mechanisms for stock transfer from the private rented sector to social landlords; urges the UK Government to devolve to Scotland the power to improve working conditions and union rights; calls on both governments to review their regulatory frameworks to ensure that public interest tests have primacy and that growth duties on regulators never impinge on their regulatory purpose, and believes that tax systems at local, Scottish and UK levels must all be used to dramatically cut inequality as well as to raise sufficient revenue to invest in rebuilding public services."
Further details available for S7M-01070.2
Programme for Government, An Economy Fit for the Future
As an amendment to motion S7M-01070 in the name of Stephen Flynn (Programme for Government, An Economy Fit for the Future), leave out from the first “welcomes” to end and insert "notes that, after almost two decades of Scottish National Party administration, Scotland continues to suffer from weak growth and an increasingly uncompetitive tax environment; further notes that the SNP promised to build an economy fit for the future eight years ago, yet now acknowledges that economic growth has been too low for too long; recognises the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s and the Auditor General’s concerns about the significant fiscal pressures facing Scotland and the weakness of its business base; considers that further reviews, consultations and interventions such as statutory food price controls risk adding costs and uncertainty rather than removing barriers to growth; regrets that the Programme for Government does too little to unlock the potential of Scotland’s rural industries or address the infrastructure constraints facing rural and island communities, and calls on the Scottish Government to cut the burden on workers and businesses and to pursue a genuinely pro-growth agenda that delivers for Scotland’s urban and rural economies."
Further details available for S7M-01070.3
Programme for Government, An Economy Fit for the Future
As an amendment to motion S7M-01070 in the name of Stephen Flynn (Programme for Government, An Economy Fit for the Future), insert at end "; recognises that work to ensure Scotland has a strong and sustainable economy must address high levels of economic inactivity, an inefficient planning system and the impact of rising business rates; recalls the £178 million of additional rates relief, secured by the Scottish Liberal Democrats in the 2026-27 Budget, while acknowledging that businesses are still feeling the effects of the 2026 rates revaluation with changes required to ensure revaluations don’t produce unfair bills that threaten otherwise viable businesses; believes that island and rural businesses play a key role in helping Scotland’s economy to grow and that those businesses rely on good transport connections to help move supplies, products and staff; acknowledges that where cuts are made to lifeline flights or where there is consistent disruption to ferry services, the viability of these businesses can be adversely affected, and calls for the Island Resilience Fund to offer more funding, and sooner, to both island businesses and the coastal communities that have been consistently excluded from the scheme.”
Further details available for S7M-01070.5
