Responding to the unveiling yesterday of the Scottish Government’s legislative programme, CBI Scotland’s Director, Iain McMillan, gave a rather lukewarm response. He said:

“A number of the measures contained within the government’s legislative programme are welcome. However this was a missed opportunity to signal a fresh direction on public service reform through contracting-out the delivery of a far wider range of public services to the private sector. We also wanted to see Scottish Water made less reliant on the public purse in order to free up money for other GDP-enhancing infrastructure investments, and are disappointed at the lack of a moratorium on any new or additional taxes during the remainder of this parliament.”

Commenting on Procurement Reform Bill specifically, Mr McMillan added:

“The commitment to develop a more business friendly procurement process is one which CBI Scotland broadly welcomes, however the lack of any firm commitment to allow the private and third sectors a ‘right to bid’ to deliver public services is a missed opportunity.”