The think thank has today published a blueprint to make Scotland “better than before” as it looks to recover from the COVID-19 crisis and ahead to next year’s Scottish Parliament elections.

As the countdown to the 2021 Holyrood elections - just eight months away- begins, researchers at IPPR Scotland have challenged politicians of all colours to match their ambitious rhetoric with equally ambitious action; and they show them how to do it.

The blueprint sets out priorities for Scotland over the next five years and some of the steps required to meet those priorities.

The report outlines three high-level priorities for Scotland, with a range of potential policy options to achieve them, including:

• A new economic model hard-wired for justice
• Making support for businesses conditional on enforceable fair work obligations – such as sectoral Fair Pay Agreements
• A new equity-approach to public funding for business and economic support. This would see equity stakes built in companies across Scotland rather than offering support through traditional loans or grants
• A green recovery funded throughout the next parliament, with new borrowing powers for the Scottish parliament
• A social justice stimulus – public funding channelled through and for low income families to support economic performance and social justice
• Paying for the crisis fairly
• New wealth taxes set at the national level, delivered at the local level
• New ‘behaviour change taxes’ to better incentivise fair work and the green transition
• A future generations act and commissioner to focus on intergenerational justice and long-term decision-making
• A new social contract for Scotland
• Debt write-offs for those with unmanageable debt and arrears caused by Covid-19
• Increasing levels of support through Scotland’s social security system
• New deal for social care workers, with payscales across the sector benchmarked to NHS and local authority pay rates

Russell Gunson, director of IPPR Scotland, said: “COVID-19 has affected us all, but it hasn’t done so equally. As we look ahead to how and when we recover from this global pandemic we must ensure that we build a Scotland better than before.

“Scotland has made big progress since devolution in so many ways. We have political consensus and the opportunity to deliver against some of the big challenges we face, including promoting wellbeing, tackling child poverty, and improving health and educational inequalities. But we must make sure that in rebuilding our economy following COVID-19, we build a Scotland that’s better than before; on the foundations of social, economic and social justice.

“As we approach the Scottish parliament elections next year, we will be choosing the direction not just for the next five years, but making decisions that could last for decades to come. This report acts as the beginnings of a blueprint for how we could and should do so.”