Nicola Sturgeon vows £10million fund for companies to trial a FOUR day week

NICOLA Sturgeon today vowed £10million to support companies to trial a four-day week for their staff if she wins the Scottish election.

The First Minister, launching the SNP’s manifesto ahead of the Scottish elections, said she wanted to help people to get a better work life balance after Covid.

She also said such a policy would “help business employ as many people as possible” which would help the nation recover from the pandemic.

Millions of Brits have been working from home since last March when the PM ordered the nation to stay home.

Both in England and Scotland people are still being told to stay away from the office if they can.

Speaking this afternoon she said: “Before the pandemic struck, many people were already worried about work-life balance.

“We want to do more to support people to achieve a better balance and help businesses employ as many people as possible.

“As part of that, we will establish a £10 million fund to support willing companies to explore and pilot the benefits of a four-day working week.”

Ms Sturgeon, who is battling to hold onto seats in the Scottish Parliament in May, also vowed to freeze income tax for the duration of the next session if the SNP wins.

And she promised to boost spending for the NHS and speed up cancer diagnostics too.

Covid-19 has given Scotland the chance to “build a better nation”, she added.

“As we recover, we have the opportunity to reimagine our country.

“In this manifesto the SNP is setting out a serious programme for serious times.