The first Economic Recovery Plan (ERP) was published in January last year, in the early months of recession. It was very quickly clear that this recession - rooted in a major global financial crisis - would have far reaching implications for people and businesses living in Scotland, and for the public services that we deliver. Circumstances have rapidly changed in the last 18 months, and the ERP has adapted with regular updates to the Plan.
The latest update to the ERP was launched today by John Swinney. It comes as we start to look towards a return to growth in the Scottish economy. In the fragile early stages of recovery, the task for the public sector is to ensure that the services and support we offer are aligned to accelerate the recovery where possible.
Colleagues in Strategy and Economic Policy Division (SEPD), in St Andrews House, have developed the new Plan. [NEW PLAN IS BELOW] It brings together a wide range of initiatives, many of them developed through extensive consultation with stakeholders.
The work is guided by a wider team of ERP co-ordinators, who meet regularly to help ensure economic recovery activities are coordinated across the organisation.
Lynn Forsyth, from the Economic Response Unit in Glasgow, is one of the ERP co-ordinators. She said:
"The recession has really tested the services that we offer and it's absolutely crucial that we are able to work across the public sector. In my area, we worked hard to ensure that the skills and education support provided by the Scottish Government and the Scottish agencies met the rising needs as the recession took hold. It's been really rewarding to see how schemes like Adopt An Apprentice have really made a difference to people affected by recession."
The new Plan has been developed in consultation with Scotland's businesses, academics, community groups and individuals, and with partners in local government and the Third Sector. It centres on stimulating lasting improvements in Scotland's long term economic performance, in line with the broader aims of the Government Economic Strategy.
Among the themes in the new ERP, there's new activity to support the development of a low carbon economy, better support for Scottish businesses to reach out to new international markets, improvements to the Scottish planning system and further activity to meet the ongoing employment pressures in Scotland.
Chris Stark, who heads up the Economic Recovery Plan team in SEPD, explained:
"The ERP covers a lot of ground. It's a great representation of the breadth of work that's done by the Scottish Government and by our partners across the public sector. We support the economy in a huge number of ways, so it wouldn't be possible to pull together this Plan without the hard work of individuals around the organisation.
"So many people have developed policy initiatives and stimulated new activity in their area to support the Scottish recovery. We're extremely grateful for all the work done to contribute to our Plan.
"In SEPD, we have a wider role in helping the organisation to develop policy to support sustainable economic growth. We're always keen to hear how we might accelerate the recovery, or boost sustainable economic growth in the longer-term," he said.

Economic Recovery Plan

03/03/2010

Actions required to accelerate recovery and improve the long term performance of Scotland's economy were set out today in a update of the Scottish Government's Economic Recovery Plan.

Finance Secretary John Swinney identified a number of priorities for the coming months that he considers key if sustainable economic growth is to be increased.

• The development of a low carbon economy to harvest Scotland's unrivalled energy resources and deliver the world's toughest emission reduction targets
• New inward investment, a scaling up of support for Scottish exports and continued focus on tourism initiatives
• Continued improvement of Scotland's planning regime and streamlined support for new domestic and inward investment
• Ensuring improved access to finance to support investment for growth
• A renewed focus on commercialisation to translate Scotland's natural and intellectual assets into future growth, through innovation, leadership and management skills
• Directing resources towards skills and training to manage the ongoing employment pressures in Scotland

Mr Swinney was speaking on a visit to Festivals Edinburgh, to find out more about the new Edinburgh Festivals Passport - a brand new travel trade product, supported by Scottish Enterprise's Tourism Innovation Fund.

The new Passport will allow domestic and international travel operators to create packages that will help increase visitors to Edinburgh's famous summer festivals and support the growth of the wider tourism industry.

He said:

"The Scottish economy has not been immune from the deepest recession in a generation, but it is resilient. That's why our updated Economic Recovery Plan is so important. It sets out the steps we are taking across the public sector to accelerate recovery and capitalise on Scotland's long term strengths.

"The primary new opportunity for Scotland lies in the development of a low carbon economy. We are making commitments on renewables and carbon capture and storage that will lead to the development of major new industries and employment.

"Our competitive exchange rate allows us to develop new sources of foreign demand and we are scaling up support for exports and attracting new investment. And, building on the success of Homecoming, my colleague Jim Mather will make an announcement later today on a further focus on tourism.

"I warmly welcome new initiatives such as the Edinburgh Festivals Passport, which show the tourism industry is innovating and looking towards the future.

"We recognise the commitment that business makes by investing in Scotland's future. In turn, the Scottish Government is acting to make Scotland the business location of choice.

"We are further improving Scotland's planning system by even better alignment of activity, efficiency of process and easing of constraints, ensuring the planning system supports economic development where appropriate. Meanwhile, our interaction with banks and the introduction of the new Scottish Investment Bank will help with the availability of appropriate levels of finance to support investment for growth.

"Scotland has long had world-leading natural and intellectual assets. The key to translating this into economic success is renewed focus on commercialisation, ensuring Scottish businesses have access to the best possible support for their innovation and the capability among Scotland's business leaders to capitalise on new commercial opportunities.

"These actions can help give Scottish businesses a competitive edge in a global economy. As we seek to emerge from recession, it is vital that nothing risks the very fragile signs of recovery. The UK Government's decision to withdraw its fiscal stimulus package runs this very risk. The Scottish Government, therefore, will continue to make the case for a further economic stimulus in the next UK Budget to help protect jobs and businesses in Scotland."