Local Council Elections Preview: Scottish National Party

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 National Party

Current number of seats: 431

The Scottish National Party (SNP) local election manifesto is called “Stronger for Scotland”.

The SNP are appealing to voters to back their candidates to stand up for local services and tackle the rising cost of living. They pledge to “use all the powers and resources we have - in both national and local government - to help ease this pressure (referring to cost of living)”.

They take the opportunity to highlight policies they have enacted at national level to help people with the cost of living crisis but add that “the key levers in this crisis are in the hands of the Tories at Westminster”. Indeed, they regularly criticise the Conservatives, accusing them of being responsible for the cost of living crisis and saying that “we must also send a strong message that much more needs to be done.”

They also mention that local SNP council teams are producing local manifestos that “will set out in more detail the vision for individual council areas.”

You can read their full manifesto here.

National Care Service

The SNP commit to working closely with the Scottish Government "to support the design and establishment of a National Care Service, to improve care and support for people who use community health and social care, while protecting local service delivery" and also mention that it will be "co-designed with the people who use and rely on these services." The SNP say they support a National Care Service on the basis that it will "improve standards, ensure enhanced pay and conditions for workers and provide better support for unpaid carers." They also highlight that this reform will be accompanied by a 25% increase in social care investment.

Tackling Poverty

The SNP say their councillors will work with the Scottish Government "to help people facing the impacts of higher energy bills, the increased cost of food, the UK Government’s National Insurance hike and interest rate rises." They pledge to "protect the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, which allows support to be targeted to those most in need" and also say they will scrap council tax for everyone under 22, which they claim will give an annual saving of £750 a year to a young person living alone in a Band B property.

On tackling child poverty, the SNP want to "pilot the provision of free nutritious school breakfasts in secondary schools, and, based on the findings of the pilot project, explore the feasibility of universal breakfast provision in secondary schools." They also say their councillors will work with the Scottish Government to "deliver the school clothing grant - £120 for pupils in primary school and £150 for those in secondary school - and ensure it increases each year with inflation."

They also make a series of other pledges to work with the Scottish Government to alleviate the cost of living crisis. These include:

• significantly increase employment services with the aim of supporting up to 12,000 parents to enter and progress in sustainable and fair work. This will be backed by initial investment in employability support for parents of up to £81 million in 2022-23
• increase the Scottish Child Payment from £20 to £25 and extend it to under 16s in low income families by the end of 2022. This will deliver £1,300 per eligible child per year - backed by investment of £671 million over the next two years
• mitigate the UK Government’s Benefit Cap as fully as possible within devolved powers, through Discretionary Housing Payments.

Tackling Homelessness

The SNP say that their councils will "focus on early intervention and deliver a person centred approach to meet needs" with the priority of ensuring that anyone at risk of homelessness is given settled accommodation as soon as possible. To do this, they will "invest in a rapid rehousing approach and work with the Scottish Government to introduce a national programme to increase housing choices for those facing homelessness." They also say they'll work with the Scottish Government to "make progress towards our target of 110,000 more affordable homes by 2032. 70% of these will be for social rent and 10% will be in rural, remote and island areas." This also includes taking action to tackle fuel poverty and make it more affordable to heat and power homes.

The Promise

The SNP want to "deliver fully on The Promise and help provide children and families with the strong foundations they need to thrive, and ensure that children who are or become care experienced are loved and supported to fulfil their potential." They also add that their councillors will work with the Scottish Government to "ensure every child who needs it has access to a Bairns’ Hoose, ensuring a child-centred approach to delivering justice, care and recovery for children who have experienced trauma."

Mental Health

The SNP say they will tackle the stigma and raise awareness of mental health by offering "mental health first aid training to everyone in the public sector by 2026." They also want to "strengthen mental health strategies and work across departments and portfolio areas, encouraging joined-up service delivery and cross departmental collaboration."

Anti-Racism

The SNP also make a commitment to adopting the APPG definition of Islamophobia which states that “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness” and to adopting the IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism which states that “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews."