As what passes for summer draws to a close the Holyrood parliamentary year will kick off this week with two major set pieces, both with potentially significant implications for business.

One is an expected update from Finance Secretary Shona Robison on devolved government finances. The other will see First Minister John Swinney unveil his legislative programme for the coming year. Hopefully, the needs of the economy will be paramount in both.

The Finance Secretary has an unenviable task. Factors including persistent weak economic growth and substantial outlays on social security and public sector pay have put the devolved government’s £60 billion budget in a bind. Last year’s guddle of a Scottish Budget didn’t help, with little sense emerging of a coherent plan to grow the economy. All this has led to decisions to end the peak rail fares discount and curtail winter fuel payments for pensioners, and come on top of increases in taxes earlier this year.

It matters profoundly that government finances are put on a sustainable footing as this provides a bedrock of economic stability as well as militating against the need for tax rises which could stymie economic recovery.

That’s why the Scottish Retail Consortium wants to see the focus on spending restraint rather than higher taxes.

We’ve suggested the administration think differently about which services it delivers and how to do so more efficiently. Structural changes to the public sector ought to be implemented too. The Spending Review two years ago identified 129 public bodies under the Scottish Government’s purview. Indeed, it’s said there are now more public bodies than there are MSPs. So the number of public bodies could be rationalised and government premises surplus to requirements disposed of.

The number of civil servants has almost doubled since devolution. Headcount could be reduced, recruitment for non-critical posts paused, and the policy of no compulsory redundancies rescinded. Government focusing on doing fewer things won’t cause too much distress for a business community already drowning in new regulations.

Which sets the scene for John Swinney’s first Programme for Government since becoming First Minister. It presents an opportunity for him to put his own personal stamp on the governing philosophy of the administration.

Hopefully, he will take a holistic approach towards new regulations affecting business – one which takes into account the current tricky trading conditions for retail, but also the extensive regulatory agenda already in train as well as that of the new UK Government as outlined in the King’s Speech.

Scotland’s retailers have got a vast number of devolved initiatives on their plate. This includes: this month’s increase in alcohol minimum unit pricing; in-store restrictions on selling foodstuffs high in salt and sugar; in-store restrictions on promoting alcoholic beverages; a ban on selling disposable vapes; and the proposed levy on disposable cups. On top of this are UK wide interventions including next year’s expensive new extended producer responsibility rules on packaging, as well as the deposit return scheme for drinks containers.

Hopefully, the First Minister will blunt or end altogether some of these initiatives. This would allow retailers to better focus on their customers and becoming more productive. It would be good for shoppers too as extra statutory costs that retailers encounter are often passed on to consumers.

Hopefully, Mr Swinney will nix plans to make eligibility for permits to trade and business rates reliefs contingent on payment of the ‘real’ living wage. If there was a time to progress this then – given the weak economy - now isn’t it.

The one certainty is there will be a Budget Bill. The last Budget was significantly flawed, including a misbegotten mooted business rate surtax on grocery stores and eye-watering business rate hikes.

The new Budget Bill should knock the surtax on the head and include a timetabled plan for lowering the business rate which is already at a 25 year high. An ambitious Bill would speed up restoring the level playing field with England on the higher property rate.

This agenda could make Scotland’s economy more buoyant, lift living standards, and generate the tax revenues to support public services and alleviate poverty. It would help deliver our shared ambition with Mr Swinney for a more dynamic economy.

David Lonsdale is director of the Scottish Retail Consortium