Scottish Conservatives force SNP U-turn on impact assessments

Following the vote on Regulatory Framework at today's decision time, the SNP Government supported an amendment in the name of Scottish Conservative Finance Spokesman, Gavin Brown, to carry out full and proper business impact assessments on both the proposed retail levy and the reform of empty property relief on business rates.

This represents a complete u-turn from the Scottish Government who previously refused to allow any impact assessments on either of these policies.

Gavin Brown MSP, who proposed the amendment said:

"I welcome this change of heart from the SNP Government to carry out full impact assessments on their proposed business tax rises. I am convinced that the rises would have a negative impact on the economy and the formal impact assessments will allow everyone to see clearly the effect that these measures could have.

"The retail tax and reform of empty property relief are two far reaching policies that could have a hugely damaging effect on Scottish jobs. Therefore it is vital that we carry out full impact assessments and I am glad that the SNP have finally seen sense.

"Scottish Conservatives have been calling for these policies to be fully scrutinised since they were first proposed. I am glad that we have managed to force the SNP to admit that they do not know what damage they could cause and it is now important that they get on with these assessments quickly."

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