Scotland to end public sector pay cap

The first minister has confirmed that the one per cent public sector pay cap in Scotland will be scrapped next year.

As Nicola Sturgeon outlined her government’s plans for next year with her Programme for Government, she announced plans to scrap the UK-wide one per cent limit on pay rises that was introduced in 2013.

The pay cap has led to complaints that public sector workers have seen dramatic real-terms drops in their earnings in recent years.

The first minister also said action would be taken to phase out the need for petrol and diesel vehicles by 2032 and fast-track the development of a Scotland wide charging network, and announced plans for a Scottish National Investment Bank to deliver long-term financial support for innovative industries.

Sturgeon announced another 15 measures within the Programme for Government, including: support for key business sectors; extending free personal care to all those under 65 who need it; rolling out new social security powers to tackle inequality and child poverty, among others; extending the presumption against short prison sentences to 12 months; doubling the provision of free childcare; improving public health; and a discussion paper on the use of income tax in Scotland.

Sturgeon said: “We must aspire to be the inventor and the manufacturer of the digital, high tech and low carbon innovations that will shape the future, not just a consumer of them.

“To encourage others to see Scotland as the place to research, design and manufacture their innovations - for us to become a laboratory for the rest of the world in the digital and low carbon technologies we want to champion - we must also become early adopters of them. We must be bold in our ambitions.

“The programme that I have set out today, the policies and the legislation, is fresh, bold and ambitious – and because of that, aspects of it undoubtedly will be controversial.

“That is inevitable – indeed it is necessary. No one has ever built a better country by always taking the easy option. This programme is about equipping Scotland - not just for the next year - but for the next decade and beyond.”