Actions to Deliver a Sustainable Economic Growth

As an amendment to motion S4M-04045 in the name of John Swinney (Actions to Deliver a Sustainable Economic Growth), leave out from "Scottish Government's" to end and insert "principle of boosting capital investment to tackle unemployment and promote growth but is concerned that decisions of the SNP administration, such as its £86 million real-terms cut in the housing budget over the last year, have contributed to the contraction in the construction sector in Scotland, with the loss of around 12,000 jobs last year; further notes recent reports, such as the Bank of Scotland Purchasing Managers Index showing Scottish private sector growth well below the UK average; believes that the awarding of steel contracts for the new Forth crossing sits poorly with the SNP’s claims to support Scottish manufacturing while the targeting of colleges for cuts and the demotion of its Infrastructure and Capital Investment portfolio to that of a shared brief with the referendum campaign is symptomatic of a Scottish Government with a poor sense of priorities; agrees with calls on the UK Government to acknowledge that its response is not working and a failure to secure growth in the UK economy is threatening its fiscal consolidation programme; calls on the UK Government to provide a stimulus to capital investment to support infrastructure and growth in the economy, but also expects the Scottish Government to use the powers at its disposal, including the forthcoming budget, to boost housing and construction and to introduce a major employment initiative designed to get Scotland working again, and further calls on the Scottish Government to reconfigure its National Performance Framework to encompass wellbeing, social inequality and environmental impact as well as promoting growth, building on new measures such as the Oxfam Humankind Index."