Failure to meet growth targets costs almost £13bn

The Scottish Government’s failure to meet its own growth targets has cost the country’s economy almost £13 billion, it has been claimed.

The figure was calculated by independent experts at the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICE) at the request of Scottish Labour.

SPICE was asked to consider how much more growth Scotland would have experienced had a commitment “to match the GDP growth rate of small independent EU countries by 2017” been met–a commitment made in the Scottishgovernment’ s national Performance Framework.

The SPICE analysis found if Scotland’s GDP had grown at the small EU country average, it would be £12.9bn higher than the existing level. Labour’s economy spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “The cost of SNP complacency on the economy is a staggering £13bn. That is a huge failure on the part of SNP ministers who don’t have a credible plan for economic growth.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Between 2007 and 2016, Scotland’s productivity growth has been higher than any other country or region of the UK, including London, and with four consecutive quarters of positive GDP growth in 2017, Scotland’s economy continues to show resilience.”