THE Tories are calling on the Scottish Government to give people more "certainty" on when Covid restrictions will ease.

Nicola Sturgeon is set to publish her routemap out of lockdown next week, but she has already warned that the scope for change is limited.

She told MSPs this week that it would be wrong to give “arbitrary” dates for any major changes.

Yesterday, the Tories published their own exit strategy, calling for clarity on how restrictions will be eased, and what the “new normal” might look like.

The party said the public needed “to see a route map that offers hope and the certainty that they will be able to go to favourite pubs and restaurants, return to workplaces and re-open businesses and see dearly missed friends and family in the not too distant future”.

Key asks in the document include the creation of a Coronavirus Business Advisory Council to “give advice on the easing of restrictions and the grants system”.

The party also wants a minimum one week “adaptation period” between the announcement of changes and the date implemented.

As part of the any re-opening, they’ve also called for parking charges to be scrapped, “to encourage people into town centres and high streets”.

This, they say, would cost the Scottish Government £44 million to mitigate the loss of revenue to local authorities.

Tory leader Douglas Ross said: “The single most important thing that government can give to businesses and individuals is certainty going forward.

“There needs to be a complete approach to gradually removing restrictions and ending the lockdown. One key question is whether there will be a local or national approach.

“While we rightly celebrate the world-beating UK and Scottish vaccination programme, now is the time to focus on the future."

The Scottish Government has previously rejected a week gap between announcement of changes and them coming into effect, citing the fast-moving nature of the virus.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “Our revised strategic framework for easing Covid-19 restrictions will be published shortly.

“It will set out how we will use and balance all the tools at our disposal – restrictions and advice, vaccination, test and protect, and travel restrictions – to restore, on a phased basis, greater normality to our everyday lives.”

Earlier this week Sturgeon said the more infectious virus variant would likely mean a more “cautious” exit from lockdown than last summer.