In it, she sets out a new Conservative vision on how to combat the causes of poverty – using an active, engaged government to support communities and individuals caught up in the cycle of deprivation.
Among specific proposals in the speech:
· She backs a new policy on childcare to offer more provision for children aged 1 and 2, starting with the most deprived, in a bid to stop the attainment gap opening at source.
· She backs more funding for Further Education Colleges, saying she rejects the "snobbish" attitude which puts Higher Education before Colleges.
· And on the wider social concerns about pay inequality, she supports a call to review the way senior bosses are paid - so that chief executive incomes are linked to their company's performance. She also backs calls for companies to publish pay ratios and for employees to sit on remuneration committees.
She argues that a new Conservative vision must show how society and government can work together to support people in poverty.
She concludes: "It is possible to say - all at the same time - we are individuals, the State doesn't have all the answers, the market is not king, there is such a thing as society and Government can be a force for good."
On childcare, she will say:
"The proposals the Scottish Government have announced for 2020 are for more hours for 3 and 4 year olds.
"Given the gap that opens up among children from poor and wealthy homes before the age of 3, we think action is required earlier.
"So in our manifesto for the Scottish election, we will argue that instead of extending that provision across the board for 3 and 4 year olds, we should provide more high quality childcare for more 1 and 2 year olds, starting with those in disadvantaged homes.
On Further Education, she will add:
"You may have seen the photos: not long before he left office, our former First Minister – never one to hide his hubris – arranged for a monument to be built at Heriot-Watt university in Edinburgh praising his decision for government to meet the cost of tuition fees in Scotland.
"What he didn't mention was how the cost of that free tuition led to funding for Further Education being slashed, with a reduction of 152,000 places as a result
"Classic SNP: a middle class freebie, tarted up as an egalitarian policy, slashing funds for less high profile areas - and slaps on the back all round
…. "I reject entirely the snobbish view that values Higher Education much more than vocational and practical training. Do the Germans think like this? Of course they don't. It is time we redressed the balance."
And on pay, she says:
"I do think we should consider the Chartered institute of Personnel and Development's proposal for companies to ensure that reward packages are more aligned to financial and non-financial performance.
"Not just based on profit margins – but also on how engaged employees are, and how workforce development is improved. Publishing the pay gap, having employees on the remuneration committee.
"I don't really think people resent the fact that a Chief Executive gets paid well or is the highest earner in an organization.
"I think they DO resent it when they see CEOs cashing in hundreds of thousands in the bank no matter whether the company they run is going up in the markets or going down the pan. I think they resent it when record bonuses are paid to the boardroom, when members of the workforce are laid off or facing a pay freeze."