Meeting of the Parliament 08 September 2015
Our approach to the economy is about investing in skills; it is not about cutting taxes. I look forward to taking Scotland forward in the future.
I move amendment S4M-14156.3, to leave out from first “welcomes” to end and insert:
“recognises that the Scottish Government must ensure that the benefits of economic growth improve the lives of working people and address increasing inequalities; believes that the Scottish Government must be more ambitious to improve economic performance, noting that GDP stands at 4.5% above the pre-recession peak for the UK as a whole, compared to only 2.9% in Scotland; notes criticism from leading economists of the Scottish Government’s two economic publications, Benefits of Improved Economic Performance, for incorrectly assuming that Scotland will continue to receive the block grant while retaining all taxes raised in Scotland; notes that these two economic publications have based their economic analysis on growth assumptions that are not supported by any policy analysis or an assessment of the likelihood of achieving such growth; further notes with concern that Scotland’s Economic Strategy provides no targets to measure success; welcomes progress in promoting the living wage in the private sector, but believes that the full weight of the Scottish Government should be behind this effort, including through procurement; notes the recent fall in confidence among Scotland’s small business community, and believes that the foundation of Scotland’s economic strategy must be a successful education policy and that therefore tackling educational inequality must not only be a political priority but also a spending priority.”
14:52Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.