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Building a Better Scotland
FOREWORD
By First Minister and Deputy First Minister
Growing our economy and investing in Scotland's people. Opportunities for all our young people and improving our public services. Safeguarding our environment and realising our ambitions for Scotland. These are the priorities that have shaped our Scottish Budget for the next three years.
It is a Budget that continues to tackle the damage created by years of under-investment and neglect. Years that left our school buildings in decline, our public transport service damaged and our economic competitiveness held back.
This is a Budget to ensure we spend the resources more productively. A Budget of long term investment for the next generation.
Investment in skills and knowledge to reignite Scotland's enterprise culture and increase our competitiveness. A four fold increase in the capital spent to improve our higher and further education colleges and universities between now and 2008. Investment in rail and road links, in our support for new air routes, in ferry services and in public transport to build the infrastructure our businesses need, with a 14% increase each year to deliver our ambitious 10 year transport plan.
New and better opportunities for our children and young people through increased choice in school, lower class sizes in primary and secondary and financial support so that every young person can achieve their ambitions through a first class foundation of education and training.
Active regeneration of our cities and communities which opens up new opportunities for families through increased investment to build even more new homes for social rent or ownership and support for our cities to attract jobs and revitalise their services. And investment to make our communities safer by tackling serious and organised crime, increasing our police force, tackling anti-social behaviour, and reducing reoffending.
New opportunities for our elderly and disabled citizens to live a full and active life through investment to deliver a Scotland wide concessionary travel scheme.
A budget to tackle the problems of health in Scotland, with increased investment of over 8% each year to tackle ill health and promote good health.
Investment to promote our culture and our heritage, through tourism, support for the arts and the 2007 Year of Highland Culture.
Plans for increased productivity in our public sector and increased innovation and enterprise in our private sector. By 2008 our spending plans, and the rigour we have built in to how we spend, will see additional growth in frontline services of more than 5% a year.
This is a Budget for enterprise, opportunity and fairness.
Enterprise in our businesses, our schools and universities and our public services. Opportunity for our young people and our families. Fairness for our elderly, our communities and all of Scotland's people.
And it is a Budget which builds for the future. Attracting fresh talent to Scotland, offering real and sustainable opportunity and choice to our families, our children and our young people and encouraging innovation and growth in our economy.
It is a Budget that builds for a sustainable future. Not investment made at any cost. But sustainable investment and investment to secure our environment.
We are ambitious for Scotland. Our job is to help the people of Scotland realise their ambitions for themselves and their families. And with them, to build a Scotland this and future generations are proud of.
This Budget takes the next steps towards achieving all of that - the next steps in building a better Scotland.
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Jack McConnell MSP
First Minister | Jim Wallace MSP
Deputy First Minister |
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