The Government's Programme for Scotland 2020-2021
Our policy team member Sarah Cowie (@SarahCowie13) looks into and reflects on the Scottish Governments recent announcement that outlines it’s legislative agenda for the year to come and what this all means looking ahead.
What is it?
The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government (PfG) is published every September and sets out the legislative agenda for the year ahead. This year’s Programme, which was announced at the beginning of September, was in no way a ‘normal’ PfG. It is the last one before the Holyrood elections next May and as a result, there were fewer bills than usual. As expected, the Programme centred on addressing the economic, health and social crisis caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. The First Minister gave assurances the pandemic would not be an excuse to shirk on commitments to tackle the climate emergency and reach Scotland’s target of net-zero emissions by 2045. But how did the announcements made in the Parliamentary Chamber align with meeting these wider climate goals and targets?
What is being offered?
The First Minister promised to invest £2bn towards tackling climate change over the 2021-25 parliament. Decarbonisation and transitioning away from fossil fuels was recognised as a key challenge to overcome if meeting net-zero targets are to be successful. This will be aided through a £1.6bn investment to decarbonise the heating of homes and buildings, £60m to support decarbonisation of the industrial and manufacturing sectors, and a £62m Energy Transition Fund to support businesses in the oil, gas and energy sectors as they grow and diversify. The first round of projects in a £3bn Green Investment Portfolio will also be launched this month and the First Minister said the Scottish National Investment Bank will be capitalised with £2bn over the next ten years.
The creation of ‘green jobs’ was also a central tenet of the announcements, as a way to overcome the twin challenge of getting the thousands of people made unemployed by the pandemic back to work, as well as creating a whole host of safe, fair, and green jobs compatible with a low-carbon economy. Commitments include a £100m Green Jobs Fund, a £25m National Training Transition Fund and £20m for the Flexible Workforce Development Fund. The impacts the pandemic has had on young people cannot be underestimated and the Government has made a commitment to ensure every young person can “fulfil their potential” in the face of educational disruption, mental health crises, and a recession that threatens the employment prospects of a generation. As a result, a £60m Youth Guarantee was announced, so every young person aged between 16 and 24 will be guaranteed an opportunity at university or college, an apprenticeship programme, employment including work experience, or participation in a formal volunteering programme. Other commitments included further support for the circular economy, £150m towards flood risk management, £100m for Scottish Forestry and £250m in peatland restoration over the next ten years.
Reception & what this means for us
So how was the Programme received by opposition parties and stakeholders? Many welcomed the announcements on green jobs and efforts to help the economy transition, but some were critical the vision for the economy wasn’t radical enough, with Friends of the Earth Scotland saying it had failed to set a “new economic model that prioritises people and planet”. The Scottish Green Party said the statement made “modest moves” toward a green economic recovery but ultimately failed to respond to the climate emergency with the necessary urgency and scale. The £500m investment over five years for active travel was also criticised. With investment reaching £100.5m this year, some have pointed out that the recent announcement represents a real-terms cut in funding (once inflation is taken into account) at a time when walking and cycling needs increased support. Others highlighted the omission of announcements on a publicly owned energy company, efforts to improve community ownership and wealth building, and more robust protections for tenants.
The PfG matters to everyone in Scotland as it sets out the actions the Government will take over the next parliamentary year. This year, more than ever, has shown a need to look further into the future and prepare ourselves to be in this recovery for the long-haul. Fortunately, preventing, mitigating and adapting to the impacts of the climate crisis also requires such long-term visions and as such, the positive commitments set out present a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic while also eradicating the environmental, health, social and economic inequalities that have pervaded for too long.
You can view the full report here.