Public sector funding
We take a keen interest in the relation between the public and private sector, looking at the proportion of our GDP which each is delivering, how public sector procurement can be opened up to SME's and other ways in which our large and important public sector can help grow the economy in partnership with private enterprise.
A key issue for the success of business is how well and quickly we can improve the infrastructure which is so vital to economic success. Faced with burgeoning demands for investment in transport, for example large questions have been asked about hw government can finance the development which is needed.
One way of relieving the old fall-back of 'difficult choices have to be made' (true though that remains) is to create private sector involvement in financing public investment. PFI has not always been a welcome route in the past. The government proposes a Scottish Futures Trust, and Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce has submitted a response to the government's consultation. This has been written drawing upon expertise in the membership in the important areas of legal, fiscal and project management probity.
