SCOTTISH Tory leader Douglas Ross has stressed that his plans to allow small business to bid for government contracts will not be hampered by Westminster’s post-Brexit proposals after the SNP labelled the scheme “utterly hollow”.

Mr Ross has also set out plans for sector-specific job security councils to help those who have lost their jobs find skilled work.

The idea is based on Sweden’s retraining programmes that have been in place for decades.

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He said: “It is a scheme that gets people from skilled employment back into work.

“Unfortunately, there will be a significant number of job losses predicted in, for example, the oil and gas sector. We’ve got to have all the tools at our disposal to ensure we can get these people back into meaningful employment as quickly as possible.”

Mr Ross has outlined a “Scotland First” procurement strategy to allow the government to spend more money with local businesses.

The SNP has criticised the plans, claiming they are incompatible with the UK Government’s internal market plans following the end of the Brexit transiton period.

The Westminster proposals include a “requirement not to discriminate between individuals or businesses based on residence or origin in the UK.”

SNP depute leader, Keith Brown, said: “Douglas Ross’s plans have been shown to be utterly hollow in the middle and to fall foul of his own party’s so-called 'UK internal market' plans, which he supports.

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“He also seems determined to pretend that Brexit isn’t happening, which is a luxury thousands of businesses across Scotland simply do not have.

“This is typical of the Tories who are more interested in sound-bites than coherent policy proposals, and constantly put the survival of their own party over the survival of Scotland’s economy, jobs and livelihoods.”

He added: “The First Minister’s Programme for Government will deliver progressive policies focused on dealing with the economic, health, and social crisis caused by coronavirus.

“This stands in stark contrast to the Tories’ muddled plans, which show how little their new Westminster leader knows about what is already happening in Scotland, and offer nothing to support people and communities in Scotland respond to and recover from the Covid-19 crisis.

“People in Scotland will not be fooled by a clueless Scottish Tory party with more interest in bluff and bluster than working with the Scottish Government to support people, businesses and communities recover from this pandemic.”

Mr Ross said he understood the concerns with the procurement proposals but stressed that such an idea was nothing new.

He added: “We have been discussing this for so long yet still local suppliers find themselves out with the scope of the scheme, they find it’s too complex to get involved or they find themselves prices out of the market.

“I don’t see a barrier with the proposals in the white paper for the UK internal market put forward because the biggest barrier at the moment is these smaller businesses, who are vital to the local communities that they serve, but feel excluded in many cases by a lot of the procurement that is going on in the area.”

Mr Ross has also set out plans for community right to buy schemes for local pubs and other businesses amid the economic uncertainty around the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said that the scheme would not fit every situation but stressed the importance to “give communities the opportunity”.

He added: “We have seen many examples where a national approach is taken and that is not successful - so let’s look at a local approach to seeing if we can save some of these businesses.”

Mr Ross’ plans are not yet costed, but he said that “setting out that vision early on shows the direction of travel I want take the party”.

Pointing to plans to improve rail connections and journey times between Scotland’s cities, Mr Ross said: “There’s an awful lot of hurdles to get over to get to the stage that plans are ready to implement and take forward.

“People across Scotland can see we are serious about extending the opportunities outwith the central belt – north, south, east and west of Scotland.”

The Tory leader pointed to “many areas that the Scottish Government have not spent taxpayers’ money wisely” - using the hospitals contract fiasco as an example of wasted public funding.

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He said: “I think the focus should be on ensuring that the Programme for Government that the SNP brings forward is one that delivers for Scotland immediately – they don’t need to wait for the next financial statement, the autumn statement from the Chancellor.

“They have got levers, they have got powers, they have got resources to immediately improve the lives of individuals and the business relationships across the country with immediate effect.

“There are a number of areas that the public can look to and see the SNP Government have not delivered on what they promised at great cost and that has been resources wasted – I want to see that targeted in a better way to ensure we spend people’s hard-earned tax-payers money in the best possible way.”

Mr Ross added: “These are all areas that the Scottish Government can bring forward if they so wish.

“If Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP want to take on board any or all of these measures, I think that’s a good thing for Scotland. “For too long, the economic recovery from a global pandemic and the economy and jobs in general have been too far down the list of priorities for the SNP and the Scottish Government.”