Finance, Economy and Fair Work: Economic Action Plan

Letter from Derek Mackay, Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work

22 January 2020

Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work
Derek Mackay MSP
T: 0300 244 4000
E: scottish.ministers@gov.scot

Dear Business Leader in Scotland

In 2018 I introduced our first Economic Action Plan (EAP) that set out a range of activities that this Government and our delivery partners would be undertaking to help deliver sustainable economic growth, as well as a more inclusive and fairer economy for all of Scotland. Of course all of our businesses, both large and small, remain critical to helping us achieve those aspirations.

Today I have launched an updated EAP that shows our progress against delivery of both existing actions and our new Programme for Government commitments. The release of the first public version of findbusinesssupport.gov.scot – a single point online for businesses to access advice and support – is a key example of this progress. The EAP will provide an
important contribution to our aim of building a strong, vibrant and diverse economy that promotes wellbeing and attracts investment. The Plan is designed to support a competitive business environment, investment in a highly skilled workforce and actions that nurture the economy of the future and help to grow our economy, whatever the circumstances may be
following Brexit.

Some of the new measures in the updated Plan include:

• £500 million to improve bus infrastructure across the country to encourage more public transport uptake.
• Developing findbusinesssupport.gov.scot to the point that all support for businesses offered by the public sector is in the one place online
• Addressing the climate emergency through the new Scottish National Investment Bank which will begin investing in 2020 supported by the £15 million Building Scotland Fund and a further £340 million in investment to 2021.
• Helping to meet our net zero targets by working with public bodies to phase out petrol and diesel cars by 2030, accompanied by a £30 million investment in renewable heat projects, through our Low Carbon innovation Fund.
• Making our skills system more responsive with £10 million of increased investment in Scotland’s workforce for 2020/21.
• Supporting micro enterprises operating in rural areas by piloting a place-based approach to integrated business support.
• For our local economies a £10 million investment through the Scottish Land Fund to support communities who want to buy land or buildings to drive growth in their local economies.

I look forward to working with businesses and organisations across the country as we deliver the actions in this Plan and continue to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth across all parts of Scotland.

My officials would be happy to discuss this further if that would be helpful and can be contacted at  conomicpolicyunit@gov.scot .