The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
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Douglas Ross has outlined 15 major Bills he said the Scottish Conservatives would steer through Holyrood to rebuild the country after the coronavirus pandemic.
Unveiling a manifesto he says represents a “positive policy programme”, the Tory leader vowed to “secure and accelerate our recovery from coronavirus”.
The blueprint includes an aim to end unemployment with plans for £500 “Retrain to Rebuild” grants, job security councils, rapid retraining courses, and an Enterprise Bill that would establish an economic development agency for every region.
It sets out a proposal for a “double lock” that would protect the NHS budget, and boost it through a £600 million taskforce to reduce treatment times.
A Communities Bill would introduce a “Barnett Formula for councils”, as well as £550m for
“community investment deals” to drive growth, and a change to planning laws to give areas the final say over major developments.
The party said it wants new rates relief that would save the average shop more than £3,000, a £200m fund to tackle potholes, scrapping public car parking charges and a homebuyers tax cut saving people up to £2,100.
Other ideas include a Local Policing Act and a Victims Law, investing £1 billion over the next parliament in tackling the attainment gap, and increasing teacher numbers by 3,000.
Mr Ross said the manifesto outlined ways of “using the powers of the
Scottish Parliament to their maximum, rather than complaining that they are never enough”.
The Moray MP and Highlands and Islands candidate said: “It is a positive policy programme, focused on rebuilding Scotland; on delivering an economic recovery that stops unemployment and creates good jobs and growth in every part of our country; on supporting our education system to catch up every single pupil from a year of disrupted schooling.
“It is a programme that will ensure our recovery from coronavirus. And funding our NHS to get through the backlog of a year of delayed operations.
“Yet our manifesto does so much more than that, it sets out the issues that the Scottish Conservatives will fight for in the next parliament.
“For renewing our justice system, so it is firmly on the side of victims and not those who commit crime.
“For devolving power and funding to communities, so we can put an end to SNP centralisation and better support local services, like schools and roads.
“For creating a dynamic, innovative green economy that works with business to drive a skills revolution and achieve our 2045 net-zero ambition – and so much more,” added Mr Ross.
See also farming – page 34