Press & Policy

*Orginally published in the Scottish Daily Mail on the 11th of May 2021

Dr Liz Cameron OBE, Chief Executive, Scottish Chambers of Commerce

It is not an understatement to say that the next Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament will have a lot on its plate in the next term.

Managing the health pandemic, rebuilding the economy and coming to terms with post-Brexit trading realities are just some of the issues they will have to deal with.

From my daily conversations with businesses across Scotland, we want MSPs from all parties and geographies to give us straight answers to the big questions and challenges facing us in the months and years to come. How will they work with us to support business growth and job creation? How will crucial services and election promises be funded? How will the next Scottish Government improve economic performance?

During the election campaign period, Scottish Chambers of Commerce hosted the leaders of the main political parties and we shared our vision of recovery, economic growth but also our frustrations. Our vision is set out in our action plan – Rally for Growth – which provides the next cohort of Scotland’s political leaders with a comprehensive yet practical set of ideas that will be fundamental to ensuring our economy bounces back and is ready to grasp new trading opportunities here and abroad.

We are calling for Scottish Ministers to pass a Business Growth Act within the first 100 days of government that tackles the most urgent issues facing businesses right now. This Act should include the core ingredients for recovery, such as: reducing upfront business costs; boosting international trade; upskilling and reskilling the workforce; major digital and infrastructure investment; business mobilisation on COP26 as well as faster action and increased investment around renewable energies; and, last but not least, redesigning our towns and cities laid low by the combination of pandemic lockdowns and structural declines.

A core focus of the next parliament must be infrastructure investment. Our action plan sets out a number of key areas that require focused investment with committed timelines. We need to see a Scottish Aviation Strategy to kick-start growth and restore Scotland’s airports, which are critical to attracting international investors and tourists as well as facilitating trade.

Hand in hand with this is the need to invest in low carbon technologies in order to meet our net zero ambitions. The global challenge to decarbonise is great but Scotland has unique skills and resources to help meet it. We can build on initiatives such as the Energy Transition Fund to leverage our expertise in areas such as oil and gas into new technologies like carbon capture and hydrogen. This effort should also include a strategic plan to drive the adoption of low emission vehicles (LEVs) across the private and public sectors alongside the development of infrastructure such as charging locations and hydrogen refuelling stations. With so many of us having adapted to working from home and children accessing remote learning, it is clear how essential digital infrastructure is to our current and future prospects. We need nothing less than a digital revolution to ensure our people remain connected while also addressing digital inequality in Scotland.

Further, we have called for a major reset of the relationship between business and government. It has become clear that the priorities of business, which are shared by anyone to whom jobs and prosperity are important, are often not aligned with the priorities of the Scottish Government. To address this, SCC has called for the establishment of a new “Joint Economic Partnership” that would oversee an ambitious program of pro-enterprise, pro-growth policies to boost economic growth and job creation, bringing together ministers, the Scottish Government’s Council of Economic Advisers, and the heads of Scottish business groups such as the SCC. This should be fast-tracked urgently to make sure the next Government’s economic agenda reflects the business realities on the ground.

There is no one silver bullet that will stave off the risks the pandemic has imposed to our lives and livelihoods. But with business and parliamentarians working together, I firmly believe we can keep pace with the realities of globalisation, enhance our ability to trade and attract talent to work and study here, as well as secure inward investment.

Finally, whilst we will continue to take a politically neutral stance with regards to elections and referenda, including the possibility of a second vote on Scottish independence, we support the principles of democracy and will engage constructively in any future campaigns, if and when held. Our contribution as the voice of 12,500 businesses in Scotland will be to focus on the issues that matter to us all: secure jobs, a thriving economy and a society that works for all.

So whilst the Class of 2021 get their feet under their desks, we look forward to engaging with parties of all colours to deliver recovery now and a thriving economy for the future.