The Scottish Government's Advisory Group on Economic Recovery has made 25 recommendations which ministers will now consider. Here's what the group want Nicola Sturgeon to do:
1. The Fiscal Framework
The UK and Scottish Governments should accelerate the review of the Fiscal Framework. It is vital that the overall funding approach is robust to address economic recovery and is resilient to future economic shocks.
2. An investment-led recovery
The UK and Scottish Governments should commit to securing significant increase in access to capital investment to support the recovery. This should maintain the Scottish Government’s commitment to a Mission to raise infrastructure investment and it is imperative that the Scottish National Investment Bank opens this year.
3. Enterprise and regional economic development
The economic development landscape in Scotland should pivot to a more regionally focused model in order to address the specific new challenges of economic recovery. This model should be tasked to drive delivery of place-based and regional solutions, especially the City-Region Growth Deals
4. Ownership stakes in companies
The Scottish Government should build its professional capability to manage ownership stakes in private businesses, which are likely to arise out of the crisis. This should not require new legislation, nor a new public sector organisation.
5. Strategic support for businesses
Banks should develop new instruments to enable the strategic incubation of otherwise viable and strategically important companies to ensure they are protected during the recovery phase. The Scottish Government should use its convening power to coordinate approaches to different sectors of the economy, in close liaison with financial services institutions, sectoral organisations and the enterprise bodies.
6. Foreign Direct Investment
The Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and VisitScotland must ensure a strong and bold prospectus on Scotland and on available investment opportunities, recognising the substantial, twin shocks of the pandemic and leaving the European Union. This will require a focus on opportunity areas and deployment of its international presence to maximum effect.
7. Relationship with the Business Community
The Scottish Government and the business community should take urgent action to develop a new collaborative partnership on the strategy for Scotland’s economic recovery.
8. Planning and regulation
The Scottish Government, regulatory bodies and local authorities should review their key policy, planning and consenting frameworks, especially for key infrastructure investments such as marine renewables, to accelerate projects.
9. Conditionality
The Scottish Government should deploy its expanding tax powers and business support interventions to enable economic recovery. This should include targeted use of rates relief to incentivise economic recovery and greater use of conditionality in business support, building on the experience of the Business Pledge and Fair Work First.
10. Digital Infrastructure
The UK and Scottish Governments should mobilise investment in Scotland’s digital infrastructure, covering broadband and mobile networks, to build resilience and enhance exports.
11. Prioritisation and delivery of green investments
The green economic recovery is central to recovery overall. The Scottish Government now needs to establish a priority on delivering transformational change with clear sector plans, where the coincidence of emissions reductions, the development of natural capital and job creation are the strongest.
12. Investment in natural capital
The financial services sector and the Scottish Government should develop and promote nature-based investments to protect and enhance Scotland’s natural capital. This should include the development of financial solutions to fund forestry and other nature - based solutions, including agriculture, and should be accompanied by the development of a Scottish Natural Capital Census.
13. Tourism and hospitality
The tourism and hospitality industries should work in partnership with the Scottish Government to develop a sustainable future strategy; the Scottish Government should consider a targeted reduction in business rates to support the sectors’ recovery; and it should press the UK Government to consider a reduction in VAT.
14. Creative Sector
Given the significant contribution of the arts, culture and creative industries to Scotland’s economy and to our social capital, the Scottish Government should take steps to protect the sector; seek to increase public and private investment; and work to create a National Arts Force.
15. Care Sector
The Scottish Government should accelerate its work on reforming adult social care; and should urgently review the structure, funding and regulation of the sector to ensure its sustainability and quality going forward. The review should address workforce issues, including the Fair Work Convention’s 2019 report on the sector; and should recognise and support the contribution of unpaid carers.
16. The Third Sector
The Scottish Government should take action to protect the capacity and financial sustainability of the third sector, in recognition of its important role in building and strengthening social capital. It should examine the scope for longer-term funding arrangements for services; more flexible and collaborative approaches to procurement; and new ways to incentivise private investment in the sector.
17. People, place and community
The Scottish Government should support a renewed focus on place-based initiatives, building on lessons learned from initiatives on Community Wealth-Building. It should also accelerate investment in housing, in particular through the Scottish National Investment Bank
18. Learning Loss
The Scottish Government and local authorities should assess the impact of any learning loss and ensure that pupils are fully supported as schools return, in order to mitigate the risk of reduced educational attainment, particularly among disadvantaged groups.
19. Workplace innovation
The business community should work with the Scottish Government and the enterprise bodies to accelerate the embedding of Fair Work principles, in the context of changes to the workplace and to working patterns. This could cover the shift in experience and attitude to flexible and home-working which has been accelerated by the pandemic, and the concerns about precarious and “gig economy” work.
20. Skills and the labour market
The Scottish Government should refocus its skills strategies to address the risks of unemployment, recognising the importance of high participation sectors, and of improving the provision of lifelong learning to enable people to reskill.
21. Universities and colleges
The Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Government should protect universities and colleges from the financial impact of the crisis, so that they can maintain and enhance their role as “anchor institutions” and take decisive steps to align their teaching and learning provision, including postgraduate skills training, to meet business and employer needs; and to focus their support for research investment and growth.
22. Apprentice Training
Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council should collaborate with colleges, universities and businesses to prioritise apprenticeship training; and should respond to youth unemployment with a flexible learning response. This should include further development of Graduate Apprenticeships and online learning.
23. A Scottish Guarantee
The business community, with the support of the Scottish Government and in partnership with local authorities, should mobilise urgently to develop a business-led Scottish Jobs Guarantee scheme. This would respond to the likely increase in unemployment among young people and the serious, generational challenge that this represents for our country,
24. The Four Capitals
To promote an approach to economic policy that values all of Scotland’s assets, the Scottish Government should consider adopting a Four Capitals framework in forming its future economic strategy, and reporting against it.
25. Implementation
To create momentum and build confidence, the Scottish Government should set out its response to the proposals in our report by the end of July, and should publish regular updates on its recovery plan.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here