Investment

  • Our National Infrastructure Mission will increase Scotland’s annual infrastructure investment
  • Our Infrastructure Investment Plan will focus on three core long-term outcomes of inclusive economic growth, tackling the global climate emergency, and building sustainable places.
  • Conclude delivery of our Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) Programme
  • Complete procurement for the Reaching 100% (R100) programme
  • New 4G masts in remote rural areas and a new 5G strategy
  • Over £3.3 billion to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes, of which 35,000 will be for social rent, over this parliamentary term
  • Enhancing Scotland’s decommissioning capability through the Decommissioning Challenge Fund

Enterprise

  • Significantly reducing or abolishing business rates for 100,000 premises
  • Provide significant funding each year to Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise agency to secure sustainable and inclusive growth across all of Scotland
  • A single, online point of entry for business support – enabling businesses to rapidly navigate support and speed up decision making on eligibility-based support such as grants
  • The Scottish National Investment Bank to be operational in 2020 and investing £2 billion over 10 years in businesses and communities
  • Underwriting the future of aluminium production in Scotland, investing in the future of commercial shipbuilding and supporting the Scottish steel sector
  • Working in partnership through the Financial Services Advisory Board (FiSAB) to maintain and grow Scotland’s financial services sector and supporting sector-led initiatives such as the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI) and the proposed Global Open Finance Centre of Excellence
  • Continued support for Co-operative Development Scotland, the arm of Scotland’s enterprise agencies that supports company growth through collaborative and employee ownership business models.
  • We have established a 10 year National Social Enterprise Strategy and continue to support social enterprises through national programmes like Just Enterprise and the Social Entrepreneurs Fund
  • Develop and launch a new Credit Unions strategy supported by a £10 million credit union investment fund (CUIF)

International

  • £20 million over 3 years to support our new plan ‘A trading nation: our plan for growing Scotland’s exports’
  • A new Food and Drink 5-Year Export Plan
  • We now have a network of offices in 30 locations in 19 countries to drive trade and investment in Scotland
  • We will revamp GlobalScots and engage Scotland’s wider network of diaspora, alumni and friends globally to promote Scotland
  • Our new Invest in Scotland Prospectus will target key markets and sectors with positive reasons to invest in Scotland
  • Deliver a Stay in Scotland campaign to provide information, advice and support to EU citizens
  • Continue to argue for powers over migration policy to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament
  • Established a Ministerial Task Force to address our population concerns and work with local government and partners to harness opportunities for change.

Innovation

  • From 2018 over a period of 3 years we will provide £110m in grant support for business research and development (R&D)
  • Optimise and recalibrate partnership with Industry Leadership Groups
  • Establishing the National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland and targeting up to £18 million of European funding to establish an Advanced Manufacturing Challenge Fund
  • A new £56 million Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre will put Scotland at the forefront of pharmaceutical and fine chemical manufacturing
  • £4.2m to build on our strengths in precision medicine
  • The new Northern Innovation Hub is driving innovation across the Inverness City Region
  • Moving to extend designation of Scotland’s Enterprise Areas to 2022
  • Boosting NHS collaboration with industry to deliver innovation and better outcomes for patients
  • Enhancing the CAN DO Innovation Challenge Fund and launching an open innovation portal that will deliver easy access for business to public sector innovation challenge opportunities across Scotland
  • Delivering ‘Procurement Innovation Partnerships’ which will streamline how the Scottish public sector and business collaborate on the procurement and dissemination of innovation.

Skills

  • Providing £16.1 million to deliver intensive employability support for low income parents to access and progress in employment, supporting them to address barriers and upskill.
  • Our employment support service – Fair Start Scotland – is designed to give individualised support to 38,000 individuals furthest removed from the labour market.
  • Supporting those affected by redundancy through the Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE).
  • We are delivering a refreshed narrative for Scotland’s curriculum with a strong emphasis on skills for life, learning and work.
  • We are investing £750 million during this Parliament to tackle the attainment gap and ensure every child has an equal chance to succeed.
  • We continue to deliver the Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Programme, Learner Journey Review and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Education and Training Strategy.
  • Funding of over £600m in 2019-20 to deliver at least 116,000 full-time equivalent college places
  • Investing £214 million in Skills Development Scotland
  • 30,000 Apprenticeships by 2020, developing the Apprenticeship pathway through Foundation, Modern, and Graduate Apprenticeships.
  • We are developing a Global climate emergency Skills Action Plan
  • Establishing a National Retraining Partnership
  • A third year of the Flexible Workforce Development, and increasing its funding in 20/21
  • Creating a food and drink academy

Place

  • We will deliver City Region Deals for all our cities and have already committed investment of up to £1.125 billion over the next 10-20 years for City Region Deals across Scotland
  • Supporting development of Regional Economic Partnerships across Scotland out of the City Region and Growth Deal experience
  • Delivery of a new enterprise agency for the South of Scotland
  • A new generation of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) will develop more inclusive and energetic partnerships to increase impact.
  • Developing a compelling investor prospectus for the Clyde and identifying further opportunities for business growth and jobs
  • We will ensure that the planning system develops to support inclusive economic growth and delivers for investors and communities
  • Stimulating inclusive growth through the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund and the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund
  • Provide investment for commercial projects through our SPRUCE investment loan fund
  • Showcasing Scotland’s coasts and waters for sustainable growth and inclusive participation
  • Developing Regional Marine Plans
  • A new, world-leading approach to management of our sea fisheries
  • Continued to support the sustainable growth of the aquaculture sector

People

  • The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 sets out our ambition for reducing and ultimately eradicating child poverty
  • Spend on early learning and childcare will more than double to reach nearly £1 billion a year by 2021-22
  • £750 million over this Parliament to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap
  • We will deliver on the actions from our Fair Work Action Plan, our Future Skills Action Plan and Skills Action Plan for Rural Scotland
  • We are applying fair work criteria from the Scottish Business Pledge to grants, other funding streams and public contracts
  • Push the UK Government to recognise the action that is needed to protect Scotland’s prosperity and wellbeing with a differentiated migration policy tailored to Scotland’s needs

Sustainability

  • A Route Map on an Energy Efficient Scotland, that will lead to over £10 billion of activity to retrofit existing homes and buildings throughout all parts of Scotland
  • 50% of Scotland’s energy needs met by renewables by 2030
  • Over £40m support to innovation in wave and tidal technologies
  • Deliver the Green Investment Portfolio
  • Investing £17 million to expand Scotland’s electric vehicle (EV) charging network
  • Investing £2 Million to expand zero carbon mobility
  • Upscale opportunities across emerging hydrogen