Alex Orr Managing Director
This Tuesday (6th May), John Swinney will announce his Programme for Government, setting out Scottish Government actions for the year ahead, including its legislative programme.
Usually taking place in September, the Programme will allow the government 12 months to deliver ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections next year. It is a policy agenda that will set the tone for the march to the ballot box.
The First Minister has made the eradication of child poverty one of his key priorities, the others being growing the economy, moving Scotland to net zero and boosting public services. Known for being a safe pair of hands, he has, however, pledged a “very radical” policy agenda.
The challenge to address child poverty has been laid bare by figures out last week from The Joseph Rowntree Foundation. In addition to one in four children living in poverty, these highlight the fact that some 80,000 children in Scotland are living in “very deep poverty”.
Rising inequality creates significant challenges to our economy, with recent research from the Trussell Trust noting that failing to act on food poverty and hardship costs the Scottish economy £5.6 billion every year. If we are to tackle poverty and fund public services, this goes hand in hand with delivering long-term sustainable economic growth and boosting productivity.
The Programme for Government provides a tremendous opportunity to create a vision in response to what has been a challenging situation in terms of our health and education services, key focuses at next year’s election.
Global economic uncertainty has made kickstarting growth through the delivery of a low-carbon economy even more critical. There have been calls for the delivery of a green industrial strategy, as well as unlocking investment through creating a competitive business environment. This includes clearing away barriers to investment and growth, including, importantly, a planning system that can often stifle rather than stimulate.
Testing measures against whether it will improve Scotland’s economy and spur private sector investment is a simple benchmark, and a review of the business rates regime north of the border is crucial. A pledged business rate reduction south of the border for the retail sector risks Scotland being put at a further competitive disadvantage.
As the SNP looks towards the Holyrood elections, a clear vision that will support economic recovery and stimulate private sector investment is essential in this Programme for Government if it is to grow the economy, strengthen public services and tackle the scourge of poverty.