Local Council Elections Preview: Scottish Conservatives

As we approach polling day for the Scottish Local Council Elections on Thursday 5 May, we'll be reviewing each of the main party manifestos and finding out what they want to achieve at local government level.

We'll focus on what they're saying on issues that affect social workers, including their vision for the National Care Service, tackling poverty and homelessness, implementing the promise and improving mental health services. 

Scottish Conservatives

Current number of seats: 276

The Scottish Conservative’s local election manifesto is called “Your Local Priorities”.

The Scottish Conservatives are positioning themselves as the party that will deliver people’s local priorities, rather than what they say are the SNP’s priorities. They say that “With your vote, we can beat the SNP in your local area and get your council focused on your local priorities.”

They put forward a five point plan to deliver on local priorities: Cut council tax for almost one million households, fund tutoring and additional classes to help pupils to catch up, oppose the workplace parking levy, fix potholes and local roads and fight for a fairer deal for your community.

You can read their full manifesto here.

National Care Service

The Scottish Conservatives are opposed to a new National Care Service. They do, however, say that "We agree that social care must change and improve but this can be done without further centralisation." They go on to criticise the National Care Service proposals, claiming that "The SNP’s proposed National Care Service would merge a budget four times greater than Police Scotland. This will lead to a costly reorganisation that will take funding away from the frontline where it is needed most." Instead, the Scottish Conservatives say they want to see "the creation of a Local Care Service, run by local communities for local communities."

The Scottish Conservatives also say that their councillors "will support a renewed push to embed Self-Directed Support into local practice and call for the necessary funding to be provided by the SNP Government."

Tackling Poverty and Homelessness

The words 'poverty' or 'cost of living' don't feature in the Scottish Conservative's manifesto. However, they do highlight that the homelessness death rate is twice as high in Scotland than England and Wales, calling it a "national scandal" and a "blight on modern Scotland". They say they are committed to ending rough sleeping in Scotland by 2026 and that their councillors will "support the delivery of a Housing First programme in their local area and press the SNP Government to deliver a national programme".

The Scottish Conservatives want council tax increases to be as low as possible and say they "will increase the single persons discount to 35% when funding is available - saving a single person £134 per year on an average Band D property and benefitting almost 1 million Scottish households." They also want to "introduce a Help to Renovate scheme, to support home upgrades that will reduce heating costs and increase energy efficiency."

The Promise

The Scottish Conservatives commit to "deliver on local authority commitments made through The Promise in full ." They also support "a pilot programme for Family Hubs to bring health, education and social care services together and provide a ‘one stop shop’ of parenting support" while going on to add that their councillors will push for the "delivery of the Mockingbird Programme in their local areas to build supportive communities around foster families".

Mental Health

The Scottish Conservatives say that their councillors will "seek to increase funding for council mental health services." They also want a "‘mental health in all policies approach to working at local councils" along with more investment for community based mental health groups.

They also claim to be the only party with a credible plan to tackling the drug deaths crisis, saying that their Right to Recovery Bill (which is going through the Scottish Parliament) will ensure "that people with addiction problems can get the help they need quickly."

Other

The Scottish Conservatives mention that their councillors "will press for their local authority to be generous in its support for the Homes for Ukraine Scheme" and also highlight their opposition to the workplace parking levy, claiming they will "stand up for Scotland’s drivers."