A LEFT-WING Scottish think tank has branded the SNP’s flagship employment programme as “weak, limited and oversold.”

Research published by the Jimmy Reid Foundation today, evaluating the Scottish government’s Fair Work policy, claimed that the previous government has not matched its rhetoric with actions. 

Written by Professor Gregor Gall, the report outlines a number of issues with the government’s current set of policies, criticising the lack of compulsion placed upon employers to implement better working conditions. 

The evaluation also found that the flagship policy, which set out to make Scotland a “fair work nation” by 2025, could struggle to meet its aims.

He wrote: “It is improbable that the goal will be reached without significant changes in approach, specifically requiring the use of statutory compulsion, especially in regard of public procurement.

“It has become clear, from assessing the available materials, that the Fair Work framework, and the wider actions of the Scottish government on employment matters, have had a limited positive impact upon employment standards and relations in Scotland.”

The report has now called for the government to carry out a consultation to make union recognition and the implementation of existing national agreements required conditions when awarding public contracts. 

The SNP was also criticised in the report for its liberal economic policies. 

The report claims that, while “not entirely neoliberal,” the SNP government is “not social democratic either — it does not seek to redistribute wealth or use the state to act to change market outcomes.”

Professor Gall compared the party to New Labour, with trade unions expected to engage with a “productivity and efficiency agenda” favoured by the government and party.

A government spokesman said it is doing everything it can within its devolved powers to build fairer and more inclusive workplaces.