A new plan to put the economy first

To grow Scotland’s economy and provide everyone across the country with more opportunity, the Scottish Conservatives would:

Make economic growth the number one objective across all policy areas. Every single proposal that comes from the Scottish Government should be assessed against whether it achieves more economic growth for Scotland. This would ensure better coordination across the whole of government.

Exit Nicola Sturgeon’s ‘Wellbeing Economy Alliance’. This anti-growth group – of which the Scottish Government is still a member – suggests that economic growth in and of itself is a bad thing. This attitude has infected the whole of the Scottish Government and must be put to an end if we are to make economic growth a priority.

Oppose tax rises in the next session of the Scottish Parliament. Scotland’s tax burden on individuals and businesses is already too high, so all Scottish Conservative MSPs will stand on a very clear commitment to oppose any new tax rises in the next session of the Scottish Parliament.

Introduce Regeneration Relief for Scotland’s left-behind communities. So that areas without enough economic activity can receive ‘Regeneration Relief’. This would provide business rates discounts to attract investment in areas without enough economic activity. The scheme would allow local residents to apply directly to their local authority for their area to be considered.

Have rent auctions for long-term empty shops to boost our high streets. Too many shop fronts in Scotland lie empty, with thousands being vacant for too long. By allowing councils to initiate lease auctions for empty shops, local entrepreneurs could set up new businesses that could bring jobs and opportunities to the area.

Introduce Canary Wharf-style enterprise zones to induce economic growth, starting in Grangemouth. We would introduce new Scottish Business Zones that would give local authorities and Scottish Ministers powers to streamline planning processes, provide tax breaks and acquire land for the purposes of bringing investment and growth to declining parts of Scotland. We believe the first Scottish Business Zone should be set up in the area affected by the closure of Grangemouth refinery, to retain high skilled jobs in the area.

Attract businesses to Scotland by guaranteeing the lowest business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in the UK. Once the UK Government determines the rates for these businesses in their upcoming budget under the new multiplier system, the Scottish Conservatives would ensure Scotland had the lowest rates for these businesses in the UK.

Merge Scotland’s existing national business and skills quangos into Growth Scotland. We would merge Scottish Enterprise, Scottish National Investment Bank and Skills Development Scotland into Growth Scotland. To boost their effectiveness, we would review the operation of South of Scotland Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise while guaranteeing the levels of funding for allocation to businesses they currently receive.

Establish the Scottish Growth Fund for businesses worth at least half a billion pounds a year. Through merging the existing pools of capital available to the aforementioned quangos, we would create a single pot of capital to make it easier for businesses to know where to go for funding.

End the ‘woke’ mandates of business agencies and instead have a singular focus on Growth. Many of the business agencies openly admit they want to use their funding to further diversity and inclusion or prioritise net zero above other businesses. We would end this culture and simplify objectives so that Growth Scotland and its capital funding will be used for one goal – to grow Scotland’s economy.

Establish Centres of Excellence for important Scottish industries. These centres of knowledge would be inspired by Singapore-style industry clusters and set up by Growth Scotland in consultation with the business community. They would be used to connect the various agencies of government with businesses to help them achieve economic growth by ensuring that appropriate training, infrastructure and regulation is provided by the government and its quangos.

Enact a moratorium on any new regulatory barriers with the rest of the UK for five years. Business groups have already pointed out the harm that is being caused by the SNP’s insistence on diverging from the rest of the UK’s regulation regime for little benefit. Therefore, we would put an end to any new regulatory barriers being erected in Scotland for the next session of Holyrood. Furthermore, we would explore rowing back on the already existing areas of divergence identified by the Office for the Internal Market.

Introduce a Reduction of Red Tape Bill. This business-led piece of legislation would allow businesses to apply for regulations to be repealed or amended. Ministers would then make an assessment as to whether the regulations in question are causing disproportionate harm to our economic growth. If ministers agree, then the regulations can be repealed or amended as appropriate.