Cutting your way to growth is strategic madness and the Scottish government must take a private sector approach to their budget challenges.

They need to listen to business and urgently act on our repeated call for reforms and initiatives to support our 12,000 members to generate investment and create desperately needed jobs.

We don’t underestimate the scale of the financial pressures but there are inexpensive measures the government could take that would provide a welcome boost for the small, medium and large businesses that drive the Scottish economy.

That requires urgent change and action rather than empty rhetoric in the lead up to the next Scottish election in under two years.

Expenditure on the public sector needs a laser focus to ensure it provides value for money not a blunt axe where priorities are lost amid an indiscriminate scrabble to cut budgets.

It should face the same scrutiny as any private sector business facing cost challenges and that means all ideas for efficiencies which don’t impact on output and quality must be on the table, including setting benchmarks for performance. Arguably that could lead to an improved output with fewer resource – as the private sector has had to do year after year to stay competitive.

All levels of government need to prioritise the removal of the restrictions and burdens on businesses looking to grow. A perfect example is the cumbersome and lengthy planning processes – with each council having different timescales for handling applications regardless of staffing levels.

Why is it so much easier and quicker to gain planning approval for key developments in Manchester? Why are some councils better than others? In business those questions would be at the heart of a review and swift action taken, including managing KPIs. We need clear targets for response times, application approvals and numbers processed.

Introducing best practice to ensure a level playing field for business across Scotland is a mindset not a budget consideration. Businesses know too well that customers are happy to pay more for quality, yet the public sector approach is often to charge more for a poorer service.

As Audit Scotland has highlighted, reform of the public sector is needed to deal with longer-term financial pressures. That means less of the bureaucracy and regulation stifling investment; cutting the mountain of regulation adding costs to business and consumers and easing the burden undermining the ability of Scottish business to attract and retain talent.

Expenditure on capital projects has too often suffered from overspends and lengthy delays. We need to test every spending decision to see if private capital can be used instead of public money and ensure we employ the right people with the right skills to deliver these projects on budget and on time – just like business must do it if it is to survive. In the private sector your career depends on performance, but too often public sector failure is rewarded by promotion.

The key to unlocking growth is working closer with business. It costs nothing although government messaging does have a price as it underpins the confidence to invest in Scotland and the current absence of a detailed strategy for growth means opportunities are lost with entrepreneurs and investors choosing to go elsewhere.

Working in partnership with business to support economic growth and investment is the only route to fund vital public services. That includes a coherent energy strategy which protects jobs and investment.

Setting key skills priorities aligned to economic growth is also key and we should be working closer with colleges and universities to deliver a skilled workforce with the meta and digital skills to allow us to compete on the world stage.

And finally, public sector pay rises need to better reflect the current economic challenges and the fact that staff benefit from more generous pension contributions than the private sector and greater lifelong job security as a result of a culture of non-compulsory redundancies regardless of cost pressures.