Political Comparison Made Easy

Skills for a new era

We also recognise the fundamental importance of a skilled workforce in the transformation to a sustainable economy. Employers and our educational institutions must work closer together to ensure Scotland's workforce can meet its potential as we move to a post carbon economy and the employment opportunities it will bring.

We'll ensure that skills agencies prioritise areas like renewable energy, low carbon industries, creative and cultural industries, waste management, manufacturing and the built environment so that we have the skilled workforce needed to deliver on the potential of these sectors.

The expansion of apprenticeships has had wide support in Scotland, but we'll build on that record to enable young people to continue flexible study alongside work if they wish, and to access support to put their own small business ideas into practice.

Please see page 8 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

The party had no previous policy stated on its website for this topic for comparison.

Retrieved on 02/05/11 (10:42pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

We have extracted this relevant paragraph from the party's health policy

We'll place an emphasis on primary and community care, provided as locally as possible. A well-organised local health service, based on smaller hospitals and services, also provides sustainable local jobs and training. This localised structure of health care would provide better support for paid and unpaid carers.

Please see page 20 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

The party had no previous policy stated on its website for this topic for comparison.

Retrieved on 02/05/11 (10:43pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Promoting Justice and Crime Prevention

Greens believe a new approach to justice is required, that prioritises restorative justice and prevention as key to making Scotland's communities safer places to live.

Communities have the right to live in safety, but simply talking tough, as successive governments have, not only fails to change offenders' lives for the better; it also increases the fear of crime out of proportion to the real scale of the problem. There is another way.

The Scottish Green Party recognises that long term measures are needed to reduce crime. Punishment should be used to challenge and change harmful behaviour, not just as retribution.

Our over-stretched prison system is too often unable to spend the time and attention needed to cut reoffending levels. Many women and men in prison have mental health problems; we need a justice system that distinguishes between people who cause problems and people who have problems and respond appropriately to both.

Restoring communities, preventing crime

Greens will move our justice system beyond the failed, but fashionable, 'tough on crime' rhetoric that other politicians have been so relentless to pursue.

We'll put mediation and restorative justice at the heart of the system to ensure that offenders give something back to the community and come to see the impact of their crime. By letting prisons focus on the serious offenders who pose a real threat, we’ll have more chance of changing criminal behaviour.

We'll focus on crime prevention, instead of pretending that a minimum sentence will solve every problem. We'll respect the independence of the judicial system so that each offender is given a sentence that relates to their actions and their circumstances. We'll continue to support a presumption against very short sentences. Keeping serious criminals inside for a few weeks or months does nothing to reduce the real threat they pose to the public, while minor offenders should be giving something back to their communities, instead of sitting idle in a cell.

We'll oppose the privatisation of Scotland’s prison estate. Prisons should be completely focused on protecting the public and turning around the lives of prisoners and their families, not on returning a profit for shareholders.

We'll work to provide high quality victim support services, but we'll also support children and families of prisoners to make sure they don't pay the price for offences they didn't commit.

We'll oppose moves to create a single police force for Scotland. Policing works best at a local level, and we’ll prioritise the funding for community policing.

We'll oppose moves to create a more fully armed police force, and we'll ensure that electroshock weapons like Tasers are treated with the same seriousness as firearms.

We'll increase the focus on corporate crime, which is too often seen as less serious than other forms of criminality.

Build on our record of tackling hate crime

Crimes based on prejudice, like sectarianism, racism, homophobia, and misogyny are all unacceptable.

Unfortunately, these prejudices still blight many communities throughout Scotland. Green MSPs were proud to pass legislation on Hate Crimes in the last parliamentary session so the law included hatred based on disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity. This was a significant step in the right direction, but more progress must be made to tackle these crimes. We’ll prioritise tackling these problems and the crimes they give rise to through our restorative approach to justice. Restorative practices have a huge role to play in addressing and challenging prejudiced attitudes that underpin crime.

We believe more support is needed for those affected by these crimes, and to those who are responsible for the harm so that they can move beyond this unacceptable behaviour to the benefit of the whole community.

We'll monitor the implementation of recent sexual offences legislation, in particular to ensure that historically low levels of rape conviction are improved. However, greater emphasis is still needed on challenging the attitudes that lead to male sexual violence.

Protect the individual

We'll adopt clear principles on liberty and privacy. This means we will defend the right to peaceful public protest as a vital part of democratic change, and if necessary will legislate to protect peaceful protesters from heavy handed tactics such as kettling, bribery and intimidation, or undercover surveillance.

The Scottish Green Party recognises that human rights are everyone's rights. We'll support the development of an action plan on human rights, and we'll complement this with more coherent Parliamentary scrutiny of human rights issues.

We believe that costly legal actions for compensation arise when Government ignores basic human rights. We'll avoid this, for example by giving guidance to courts on the grounds for suspending an offender's right to vote in specific circumstances. The current blanket ban should be ended, and the right to vote should be seen as a milestone in a prisoner's rehabilitation.

Please see pages 22-23 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

Please see this SCREEN GRAB of the previous version of this policy from the party website.

Retrieved on 02/05/11 (10:54pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

The party website does not have a separate policy designation for "Culture" in its 2011 manifesto. Please ask the party directly for their policy on this issue.

Retrieved on 02/05/11 (11:42pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

The party covers this issue in various policy sections which CTP designates separately. Please consult "Local Government", "Tax" and "Apprenticeships" which may be useful.

Building a Fairer and More Sustainable Economy

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a narrow and unhelpful measure of economic progress: it tells us little about how the distribution of wealth is impacting on our communities. The Scottish Green Party will adopt alternative economic indicators which value health, wellbeing, social equality and other factors. This must include full recognition of the value to the economy of unpaid as well as paid work.

In the past Government support for enterprise and the economy has been based on the short-term whims of international investment. For years, the Scottish Government has been handing over huge subsidies to big business, with little to show for it in terms of long-term jobs.

The Scottish Green Party will review schemes such as Regional Selective Assistance to ensure that long-term social, environmental and ethical objectives are met. We'll carry out comprehensive reform of Scottish Enterprise and other support for business to prioritise economic activity which serves the public good, including social enterprises, local food networks, and manufacturing of renewable energy infrastructure. Using and reforming the banks already in public ownership would be a better basis for investment than a new Green Investment Bank.

Please see page 8 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

Please see this SCREEN GRAB of the previous version of this policy from the party website.

Retrieved on 05/05/11 (1:25am) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Education as a Social Good to be Funded Collectively

The Scottish Green Party will stand up for the social value of education, paid for collectively because of its benefit to the whole of society. Sadly there has been too much emphasis over the years on the purely economic value of education. This narrow and selfish idea of education would be even more dominant if Scotland followed the UK Government's agenda, and turned education into a market commodity.

Greens believe that education is about more than providing skills for jobs. It should be a life-enhancing experience where knowledge about the world around us, as well as self-knowledge, are ends in themselves.

It is essential that we offer young people an education that prepares them for all aspects of life, with an emphasis on arts, creativity, health, environmental and ethical responsibility, and an understanding of scientific inquiry.

No tuition fees

Universities and colleges are part of what makes for a good society; they work best when education is free at the point of use and paid for collectively through taxation. Access to higher and further education, whether part-time or full-time, should be based on an individual’s ability to learn rather than their ability to pay.

Greens will oppose the UK Government's decision to shift the cost of higher and further education away from general taxation and onto the individual. Education is not simply a personal investment in a higher income, and while graduates do on average earn higher salaries, the only way to ensure that they pay a fair contribution is though progressive income tax. We'll commit to keeping education free at the point of use, and we'll oppose tuition fees and additional graduate taxes. The Westminster cuts will mean a funding gap - Greens will raise revenue to fill it.

We'll reverse the revenue cuts to further and higher education budgets, including the SNP's cut to the funding council. Instead, we will place a priority on funding education and research, ending student poverty, and keeping student debt down - all these are principles which need to be defended, and should not be played off against one another. We’ll aim to ensure that students who move between institutions do not lose council tax discounts.

We'll ensure part-time study is recognised as an essential tool in creating pathways between school, community groups, college and university, particularly for people from non-traditional backgrounds and those with caring responsibilities.

Protecting opportunities for our young learners

Local nurseries and schools are vital for the sustainability of communities. Local authorities and local communities are best placed to decide the right level of nursery and school provision. Schools and nurseries are, however, currently coming under intense pressure, especially as a result of the impact of unnecessary cuts in public expenditure.

The Scottish Green Party will ensure that priority is given to providing councils with the resources they need to keep local nurseries and schools open and class sizes down. Our schools are assets for children and communities, and before any school is closed we will require a thorough review of potential complementary and mixed uses, including partnership with pre-school providers.

Each local authority will be asked to produce a comprehensive school estate improvement programme to deliver future savings by investing in proper maintenance and energy efficiency, and we will introduce a new School Grounds Enhancement Fund. We'll also commit to providing free nursery education for children from age 3 upwards.

Greens recognise the value of those who work with our young learners, and we will aim to secure brighter prospects for our probationary teachers who face significant challenges to find work after their probationary year.

We'll increase support for the Eco-Schools programme, setting challenging new targets for energy and resource management, local food procurement and local biodiversity. We believe that Global Citizenship Education and Sustainability should have an enhanced status within the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). The CfE itself, while offering opportunities for improvement in many areas, must be adequately resourced. We will work with teachers and education authorities to ensure that reforms take place over a manageable timetable, and for teachers to be well supported through these changes.

We'll deliver an entitlement for preschool and primary pupils to have at least 2 hours of outdoor education at least once a week and a commitment to developing opportunities for education in the outdoors and out of school, equivalent to at least one half day a week based on the Norwegian model.

We'll continue to support the Active Schools Programme to increase the opportunities for young people to try a variety of physical activities.

We'll encourage health-promoting schools and improve the quality of food provided in schools, based on the 'Food for Life' targets on fresh, local and organic food where possible. We remain committed to universal free school meals, and would restrict the sale of junk food brands in schools, as well as ensure advertising has no place in schools.

We support the rights of parents to choose to educate their children at home, with appropriate safeguards, and aim to improve support and guidance for home learning.

Please see pages 16-17 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

Please see this SCREEN GRAB of the previous version of this policy from the party website.

Retrieved on 04/05/11 (11:37pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Secure, Safe and Sustainable Energy

Right across society, the recognition has grown that we need urgent action on climate change. People increasingly see the opportunities as well as the challenges, but there is no room for delay - already Scotland has lost four years since the SNP's original commitment to 3 per cent annual emission cuts. And another great energy challenge is already upon us: peak oil, or the ending of the era of cheap and easy oil. Our supplies today come from ever harsher environments while demand for oil from emerging nations such as India and China increases sharply. Oil in the future will be both more expensive and in shorter supply. Economies which can break their dependence on oil and other fossil fuels will thrive.

Demand reduction

One of the Scottish Greens' major achievements during the 2007-2011 Parliament was in securing an expansion of home energy efficiency. We will seek to build on this success with a renewed programme with a budget of at least £100m per year to pay for a retrofit programme as part of the existing Energy Assistance Package. This scheme will be free, universal and will roll out on an area-by-area, street-by-street basis. For those in private rented housing we'll introduce minimum energy standards to ensure tenants are not stuck in fuel poverty.

Embrace the energy challenge

Some of the major choices made by Scottish and UK Governments over recent years risk locking in high-carbon behaviour as well as oil dependence, and the urgent task facing a new Scottish Government will be to reverse this trend and build not only an energy system which can meet people's needs, but a society and economy which doesn't generate insatiable demand.

We'll move beyond simply setting fixed percentage targets for renewable energy. Scotland’s renewables can more than meet our domestic electricity demand, and we can export clean energy to our neighbours. We believe this can be done by 2020, and thereafter we'll continue to support increased renewable capacity for export, including through a commission to develop plans for a North Sea High Voltage Direct Current 'supergrid'.

A lot can also be achieved by developing new ownership structures for renewable schemes, including offshore marine energy. At national level this means expanding the remit of Scottish Water to become a publicly-owned renewable energy company. We would also back Public Energy Companies at local authority level, and a range of social enterprises that would put control of energy generation into community hands.

The decentralised energy generation model will result in revenue to help meet social and environmental goals and local authorities can assist such schemes by producing heat maps for their area, and by setting targets for heat load to be delivered from renewables by 2020.

Grant schemes to provide incentives for the installation of micro-renewables will further boost this sector and such schemes could operate as part of the Energy Assistance Package, and be complemented by equity release schemes.

We oppose the proposed new coal-fired power station at Hunterston, and would use the planning system to prevent further nuclear and coal expansion. Existing nuclear power stations would be closed at or before the end of their normal working lives, and will require nuclear waste to be stored on site in secure, monitored and retrievable conditions. We will also work in partnership with management and unions to ensure employees in the industry can find opportunities in decommissioning work or be re-trained and redeployed, for example in renewables.

Carbon Capture and Storage technology remains unproven and, while research continues into its viability, the possibility of success must not be used as an excuse for new unabated coal generation. CCS must be shown to be a realistic, efficient long-term option before its deployment, and it will only offer overall emission reduction if used at existing fossil fuel plants.

Please see pages 10-11 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

Please see this SCREEN GRAB of the previous version of this policy from the party website.

Retrieved on 03/05/11 (12:29am) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Environment issues are covered throughout this party's manifesto. CTP has extracted a specific section on climate change but you may wish to consult "Energy" and "Transport" as well.

Climate change

We are committed to meeting Scotland's emissions targets through domestic effort, without the use of carbon credits, and we'll ensure public sector emission cuts are in line with the targets in the Climate Change Act. Existing annual targets are too weak, and we back 4.5 per cent annual reductions.

We'd build on the success of the Climate Challenge Fund by continuing to support community projects, with additional tiers of support including a small grants scheme with minimal bureaucracy, and a 'partnering' system so successful projects can help build capacity in other communities. The fund would be expanded to £25m a year.

There is also a need to begin to develop a consumption-based approach to calculating Scotland's real contribution to climate change, taking proper account of the emissions associated with the goods and services this country imports. This is complex work and would take several years to complete. We'll build on the limited carbon assessment of Scotland's budget to enable transparent scrutiny of budget documents in relation to carbon costs. We will also conduct individual carbon assessments across public sector spending and policies.

Please see page 11 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

Please see this SCREEN GRAB of the previous version of this policy from the party website.

Retrieved on 05/05/11 (1:30am) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

QUESTION: Please state the party policy for the heading "Further and Higher Education". In particular, who should pay for a student's education? How much money would you invest in Scottish a) colleges and b) universities in the next two years?

The Scottish Greens are committed to keeping tuition free, and, unlike the other parties at Holyrood, our manifesto will set out how we would increase revenue progressively to cover the cost and protect other public services. Students already make a graduate contribution which increases the more they get paid - it's called income tax. Education is also a social good - if higher education places become exclusively for those who are able to pay, we will all lose out.

[SCREEN GRAB OF THIS POLICY]

Retrieved on 18/03/11 (1:17pm) from: Email Submission

A Healthy Society, Not Just One That Picks Up the Pieces

Greens believe in a fully inclusive health service, with no barriers set by low income, prejudice or disability. We believe it is fundamental that Scotland has a National Health Service which is free at the point of use. The NHS currently is under greater threat than ever, as the UK Government's attempts to privatise the NHS in England are showing. We'll oppose that market-driven agenda and we believe that most Scots oppose it too.

And whilst there have been some important steps towards health improvement in Scotland, Greens recognise that there is no room for complacency on preventive health, health promotion and public health. Policies on everything from education and housing, to transport and agriculture can all influence our health. Greens offer a unique blend of healthy policies across all of these areas, because we are the only political party to make those important links between the economy, society and the environment.

A free and locally based public health service

The Scottish Green Party recognises that we must provide health services that are close to our communities and have a caring ethos at their core. Serial reorganisation of the NHS can end up doing more harm than good, both to the cost of running services and to staff morale.

We'll commit to keeping the NHS in public hands. But more than that, we'll ensure our local health services are protected against the current trends of centralisation.

We'll place an emphasis on primary and community care, provided as locally as possible. A well-organised local health service, based on smaller hospitals and services, also provides sustainable local jobs and training. This localised structure of health care would provide better support for paid and unpaid carers.

We'll support local cottage and community hospitals, which provide high quality services with a personal touch, support the wellbeing of a whole community and benefit local health economies by taking pressure off the larger acute hospitals.

We'll also address the current lack of ongoing support for patients with long-term illnesses and conditions, who need information, practical and emotional support and benefits advice as well as day care and specialist care.

Greens see benefits in the integration of health and social care services, but as with other proposals to reform public services, we'll only support change if it benefits the quality of the service. We'll consult on a range of options for delivering integrated health and social care services, with an emphasis on the need to maintain quality, and to protect staff terms and conditions.

We'll provide funding for day-care services for older people at the overlap of health and social care, which will become ever more important given the increasing number of older people in our society.

We'll close the gaps in the provision of advocacy services, which need proper funding so that every vulnerable person in Scotland can have their need for an independent advocate met.

We'll improve the quality of food provided in hospitals and care settings, based on the 'Food for Life' targets on fresh, local and organic food where possible. The standard of hospital food must be improved, for nutritious, healthy food is vital to restoring any patient to full health. We’ll encourage further democracy within the structure of our health services, and involve members of the public and communities as much as possible.

Improving Scotland's health

Prevention is central to the improvements Greens would make to Scotland's health, especially given the continuing shift from acute to chronic conditions. Whether it is dealing with childhood obesity or Scotland's relationship with alcohol, Greens believe we must tackle these issues early before they become even greater problems in the future.

We'll review Health Visitor services, with the aim of ensuring adequate routine child health checks and general levels of contact between families and health visitors. If vulnerable children are not identified, they can miss out on interventions in early years.

We'll take action to prevent obesity by increasing awareness of the problem, promoting health in schools, and ensuring affordable access to physical fitness and recreation, as well as provision for active travel.

We'll develop a national tobacco control strategy, aimed at preventing young people taking up the habit, supporting people to quit smoking, and reducing the exposure of babies, children and young people to cigarette smoke.

We'll continue to support a minimum pricing alcohol policy, which must go beyond the UK Government's "duty + VAT" approach. In addition to this, we'll develop a comprehensive strategic approach to tackling the harm caused by alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

The structure of the alcohol industry has changed for the worse over recent decades, with ever greater control in the hands of big businesses which have no connection to the communities they operate in.

Politicians have talked about changing Scotland's alcohol culture, but have supported economic policies that allowed this to happen. We'll shift support to independent pubs and retailers, small local producers which make a profit from quality instead of volume, and the positive celebration of a healthier approach to alcohol.

We'll move responsibility for Scottish Government policy on drugs to the Communities Department, as a means of bridging the gap between the health-led and justice-led approaches. While Scotland cannot amend the Misuse of Drugs Act as we would wish, we do have the chance to ensure that the individual and social harm of drugs use is minimised.

We are committed to improving breastfeeding rates, and providing the support for women when they want it to help them breastfeed.

We'll review the Sexual Health Strategy, and commit to developing high quality sexual health services and appropriate sex education.

We'll introduce health impact assessments into the planning system, and ensure that health is taken into account in all other Government policies. Policies which help tackle climate change in particular, like support for active travel, offer opportunities for a healthier society.

Please see pages 20-21 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

Please see this SCREEN GRAB of the previous version of this policy from the party website.

Retrieved on 05/05/11 (12:10am) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Supporting Scotland's Diverse Communities

A Green society is a fairer society, and we believe it is possible for Scotland to be a more equal and socially just place to live.

Greens recognise that there huge challenges to overcome in order to achieve this. Scotland faces unprecedented and unjustified budget cuts that are an act of social vandalism, led by the UK Coalition Government and simply being implemented by the SNP.

Scotland's housing and regeneration budget has taken the biggest hit in public spending cuts, with a substantial reduction in real terms. This is indefensible, especially at a time when homelessness and poverty affect far too many communities across Scotland.

Greens believe we can overcome these problems and build healthier, more tolerant and creative communities for everyone in Scotland to enjoy.

Delivering the housing that Scotland needs

Scotland desperately needs more affordable homes. Greens cannot stand back and watch people languishing on housing waiting lists, and see homelessness get worse, when upwards of £1.6bn is wasted on a second road bridge across the Firth of Forth. We'll reverse the cut to the housing budget and invest in social housing. We'll keep those homes affordable and warm through our £100m a year universal national programme of home energy efficiency to cut household bills.

Scotland has an internationally acclaimed 2012 homelessness commitment that will soon be disgraced if we do not commit the resources and support required to honour this ambition. We'll implement all parts of the 2003 Homelessness Act, and protect housing and homelessness services from unnecessary cuts.

We'll further restrict the Right to Buy, ensuring that social housing remains available as social housing.

We'll bring more empty homes back into use, using a mixture of grants, loans and strengthened legal powers for councils and social landlords to take over management of properties owned by irresponsible landlords. We'll enhance the regulation of private sector landlords by introducing management standards.

We'll support local authorities who use prudential borrowing for housing investment, with new building to be delivered by a range of social landlords including housing associations and co-operatives.

We'll begin a programme of investment in flats and tenements, funded by small grants and equity release loans, with a view to supporting energy efficiency, micro-renewables, community heating systems, improved waste & recycling facilities, and conversion of back-court spaces for social use and food production.

Please see page 18 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

The party had no previous policy stated on its website for this topic for comparison.

Retrieved on 05/05/11 (1:26am) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Local Roots for a Local Economy

The Scottish Green Party believes that our economies and our politics work best on a more local scale. The public service reform agenda does offer opportunities to improve services and save costs, but it also poses significant risks.

We would not stand in the way of Councils which wish to share some functions or even merge, but we will urge caution on any wider-ranging reorganisation. Similarly the current economic climate should not be used as a pretext for radical centralisation of services such as Scotland’s police forces and fire and rescue services.

Empower local communities

The Scottish Green Party has a strong positive vision for how Holyrood, local authorities and local communities can come together to share resources and strengthen our services and society.

We will put the case for the decentralisation of power from Holyrood to local authorities and from local authorities to communities where it is appropriate to do so. Crucially however there is no need to wait for the new Scotland Act, or to wait for independence to be delivered. Decentralisation and local economic empowerment can and should be progressed now using the existing powers of the Scottish Parliament.

Local community empowerment is an agenda which Holyrood must embrace instead of seeing it as a threat. Our support for Common Good Trusts and the democratic control of local assets offers new ways to devolve control to the most local level.

By empowering local authorities to raise revenue and by supporting them to borrow for investment, we will enable them to avoid putting the long-term future of public services at risk because of short-term cuts.

The Common Good legacy

The legacy of Scotland's former burgh system, in the form of land such as parks, were left to the people of those burghs for their common benefit.

Knowledge of exactly what these assets are became patchy following local authority reorganisation. There are hundreds of millions of pounds worth of common good assets, some previously unaccounted for, undervalued or merely underused.

This wealth belongs to the local community and not to the Council and, as land rights campaigner Andy Wightman notes, "can be used to begin a process of civic renewal and physical regeneration, to deliver wealth and prosperity, and to give back to towns across Scotland some self respect, belief and power to better the welfare of their community."

We will introduce a new Common Good Act to introduce democratic Common Good Trusts, with the scope to manage the transfer of assets to community control, and to hold at least 10 per cent of land in regeneration areas. They would have a duty to develop their business plans to use Common Good assets to support investment in community-owned revenue generating activity such as renewable energy, recycling and community work hubs.

Please see page 6 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

The party had no previous policy stated on its website for this topic for comparison.

Retrieved on 04/05/11 (11:33pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Download this image HERE

Extracted from Scottish Green Party manifesto

Retrieved on 19/04/11 (4:23pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Sustainable development of the land

We want to see more people living and making their livelihoods in rural parts of Scotland. Sustainable development will be encouraged in all sectors of the rural economy including agriculture and food production, forestry, light industry, renewable energy, tourism, environmental management, services and infrastructure.

Subject to careful environmental impact assessments, we will encourage rural teleworking and decentralisation of government and businesses to rural areas. We will also encourage distance learning, improvements to rural public transport and other measures to make it easier for people to work in rural areas. We support measures to keep money in rural economies, such as local food networks, business partnerships, and sustainable industrial activity.

Rural support and subsidy remains focused on large farms and landowners, and Greens will bring in a new £80m a year fund for small farmers and crofters. We'll also support small rural abattoirs, a key part of our local food networks.

We will develop a Scottish action plan for organic farming, in parallel with moves at an EU level. The proposed action plan would analyse bottlenecks and include concrete, measurable targets for the expansion of organic farming.

We will redirect research programmes in Scotland toward sustainable food production with a focus on organic and biodynamic systems. We support an increase in native woodland cover to 40 per cent by 2050, back community orchards, and reject the privatisation of the Forestry Commission.

Please see page 14 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

The party had no previous policy stated on its website for this topic for comparison.

Retrieved on 05/05/11 (1:28am) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Investing in communities

Our green spaces are a valuable community resource, which contribute to the health of our communities, especially by providing for informal sporting activities and play spaces for children.

We'll oppose the sale of green spaces, such as open spaces and playing fields, which often takes place against the wishes of the communities who use them. We'll use the current audit of green space across Scotland to inform communities about what has been lost over recent years, and empower them to protect what remains.

Greens want communities to have the facilities they need to support healthy lifestyles and the community spaces they want for local places to flourish. Unfortunately, local communities throughout Scotland are facing a reduction and loss of those spaces, services and amenities.

We'll oppose the closure of community sports and leisure facilities, recognising their value in providing health and social benefits. We'll also ensure our library services are protected from unnecessary cuts appreciating their value for community-based learning and social activities.

We'll review the operation of the 2006 Planning Act with a view to restoring planning's original purpose of achieving development which is in the public good, instead of placing economic growth above other priorities. The rights of developers and communities must also be revisited, and we’ll consult on a workable balance of appeal rights. We’ll ensure that urban communities can assert a right to buy land and community facilities.

We'll empower community councils to take on a legal role in decision making through planning and local urban design policy, including working towards greater localisation through democratic Common Good Trusts.

Our national sport is in difficulty. The people who really matter, the people who pay the bills - football fans - are excluded from the big decisions. Current proposals for restructuring of the game are opposed by 88 per cent of fans. Community ownership of clubs on the land reform model offers an exciting way to give clubs a stable platform to invest in their communities.

We support the work of fans' trusts and organisations, and we believe there should be incentives for fans to invest via supporter co- operatives. We will also examine legal options to allow clubs to be better structured to reflect their importance to their communities, underpinned by the real involvement of fans.

Please see pages 18-19 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

The party had no previous policy stated on its website for this topic for comparison.

Retrieved on 05/05/11 (1:25am) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Impact of a Land Value Tax

The Scottish Green Party's plans to replace Council Tax and Business Rates with a Land Value Tax has a key role to play in creating a sustainable economy. At present development is characterised by a cycle of boom and bust as property speculators play the market to maximise profits. A tax on land values would reduce the speculative holding of land. The owners of disused land and properties would face a levy giving incentives to the productive economic use of land, where local communities require it and where it's consistent with planning rules.

A Land Value Tax would help to reduce the cost of housing and business premises, and would also recoup a share of land value increases which arise from public investment. Land Value Tax would be fairer, more environmentally friendly, and would benefit the economy. Many small businesses in particular would benefit.

Please see page 8 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

The party had no previous policy stated on its website for this topic for comparison.

Retrieved on 02/05/11 (11:52pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

CTP has extracted statements on this issue from two parts of the manifesto. Page details below.

Backing local business

Too many of Scotland's town centres have become ghost towns with boarded up shops and unused offices and workspaces attracting vandalism and undermining the spirit of the community. The Scottish Green Party believes that there is an opportunity to re-energise these once vital community spaces, creating new jobs and strengthening our communities.

We believe there is an opportunity to work with local authorities and commercial property owners to bring local markets selling locally grown produce to our town centres once again.

There is a wealth of entrepreneurialism in our communities and with support this energy can be harnessed to bring life to a new generation of small businesses. Our town centres will need more than just new retail operations to bring about this renaissance, and we must ensure that businesses from many different sectors can find homes.

By working with local authorities and businesses large and small, and by harnessing communication technologies, empty office space in our town centres can be transformed into the seeds of a nationwide network of community work hubs. Having more people working locally would relieve pressures on our transport infrastructure, have a positive impact on carbon emissions and bring life back to our local communities. The emphasis for tourism promotion should be on domestic visitors and sustainable travel rather than international promotion.

*******

Marine Act

Our seas are vital to biodiversity, not just to our economy, and we support the full implementation of the Marine Act with appropriate resources to achieve this.

We'll designate Scottish waters as a whale and dolphin sanctuary to support Scotland's ecotourism industry, end the legal shooting of seals, block ship-to-ship oil transfers, and work internationally to end whaling globally.

We will also work towards 100 per cent of Scotland's fisheries being certified sustainable with the Marine Stewardship Council blue tick. The long-term future of the fishing industry depends on conservation and better regulation of aquaculture and industrial fisheries. We will also end the dumping of waste at sea.

Please see pages 7 and 15 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

The party had no previous policy stated on its website for this topic for comparison.

Retrieved on 04/05/11 (11:37pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

A Public Transport Renaissance

Only the Scottish Green Party has the vision to break with transport policies that have barely changed since the 1960s, policies that are no longer serving the public good. There's a clear need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport and to end our dependence on dwindling oil supplies. But there's also an opportunity for transport policy to deliver social, environmental and economic improvements.

A step change in transport policy

We will begin a long-term shift in investment away from building extra capacity in the trunk road network while protecting maintenance of the existing road network, which has suffered so badly over recent winters. Instead, we'll invest those resources in demand management strategies.

Comprehensive access to broadband would allow the development of home-working, which has the potential to ease the pressure on our transportation networks. Travel planning services are one of the best value ways of reducing demand for road travel, and can save people money when they find public transport options which work for them. Eventually road pricing will have a role to play, but such schemes have to be affordable especially in rural areas.

With better use of the planning system the distance people need to travel to work and to access services can be reduced. A 'Living Streets' approach will build neighbourhoods that are safer, healthier and happier. The capital investment needed for walking and cycling is minimal, but the economic benefit is huge, especially given the improvement to public health. We'll ensure that by the end of the next Parliament active travel will receive at least 10 per cent of the transport budget; walking and cycling must be a particular priority for school transport.

Public transport has become less and less affordable, and we will allocate £75m a year in revenue support to bring fares down. A further £650m over the next Parliament will be allocated to a fund for extra public transport infrastructure, including park & ride facilities, active travel, further rail electrification and opening railway stations.

Workplaces have a role to play in supporting these changes, with showers and space for bike parking, and workplace parking charges to help pay for cut-price public transport deals and bike-to-work schemes. In cities, public bike-hire schemes as well as car clubs have a big role to play in cutting the number of cars on the roads.

We'll review Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance to ensure environmental, social and economic costs and benefits are fully reflected in Government investment.

Many local projects have remained unfunded because of the focus on roads - Glasgow and Aberdeen Crossrail projects, completion of the Edinburgh tram network, renewal and expansion of the Glasgow Subway, alternative ways of linking Glasgow airport with the rail network, completion of the Borders Railway through to Carlisle, and construction of passing loops on single track lines.

We will also open old and new local stations across Scotland such as Newburgh, Blackford, Bonnybridge, Grangemouth, Newtonhill and Kintore, and improvements to rural services such as a Dornoch Firth crossing.

Maintaining our roads

The backlog of road repairs is enormous - over £2bn according to Audit Scotland - and yet the SNP administration plans to spend at least £1.6bn on an extra Forth Road Bridge. We won't proceed with this plan, but will instead support the £122m repair of the existing bridge should the dehumidification approach not prove successful.

We will also halt plans for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route. This road would increase both pollution and car-dependency, as well as diverting money from other key local services such as schools.

Other major road projects will be reviewed but a continual expansion in trunk road capacity will not be supported.

We will cut the national speed limit to 50mph on single carriageways to make roads safer and to help cut the costs of driving.

We'll support the development of electric transport, by working with Scottish companies which are creating jobs here developing and manufacturing vehicles, batteries and rapid-charging technology.

Positive on public transport development

The Scottish Green Party will work with the rail industry and trades unions to develop a non-profit body capable of bidding for the Scotrail franchise in 2014. We'll provide more flexible support for rail freight, recognising that many companies want to transfer to rail but face a barrier given the capital investment needed.

We'll develop detailed preparation for High Speed Rail in Scotland, with a view to taking specific proposals to UK Government building the case for a commitment to extend the network to Glasgow and Edinburgh, with options to go further north from there.

We'll consult on proposals for greater regulation of bus services, including a wider role for the Traffic Commissioner. Public transport is a public service, and the market alone will never protect many of the routes people depend upon.

Accessible transport also needs action from Government; some big operators have made improvements but there are still services running which people with disabilities find simply unusable.

We'll support reductions in public transport fares over the course of the four year term, through a shift from road-building to public transport spending, and we will oppose any attempt to end the concessionary travel scheme for older people and people with disabilities.

And an end to airport expansion

We'll oppose the return of any form of aviation subsidy, and use the planning system to prevent further capacity expansion in Scottish airports.

We'll end the use of internal UK mainland flights by the Scottish Government except in emergencies, and push for the same policy throughout the public sector; flights to any destination within reach of Eurostar should become the exception rather than the norm.'Lifeline' flights to Scotland’s islands are an essential service, and will be supported.

Please see pages 12-13 of the Scottish Green Party manifesto for this policy.

The party had no previous policy stated on its website for this topic for comparison.

Retrieved on 04/05/11 (11:34pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto