Political Comparison Made Easy

Investing in people

Scottish Labour is determined to ensure that jobs are the number one priority of the Scottish Government. We want every worker properly trained, well respected and properly paid and valued for the contribution they make.

It is our conviction that every youngster who finds themselves unemployed and facing an empty future is a human symbol of our nation's wasted potential. It is a step back for the whole of Scotland. We are clear that there is a better future for our country and that is why Scottish Labour will deliver the young person’s guarantee - a place in education, training, volunteering or work for every 16-18 year old in Scotland.

We will deliver this guarantee by creating 10,000 work placements through a new Scottish Future Jobs Fund - real jobs and training for young people and others who have been unemployed for over six months, with upfront, flexible funding for businesses to create those jobs. We want to ensure that some of these places are targeted at those who are currently most distant from the labour market and face challenging barriers of access. We will also provide government funding to restart the national volunteering scheme ProjectScotland.

Another new guarantee will offer a modern apprenticeship to every suitably qualified 16-18 year old who wants one from 2013 onwards. To ensure success for this scheme, we will consider how best to deliver more flexible government support to businesses that are training apprentices, including encouraging schemes in key skill shortage areas and exploring how small businesses can form partnerships to 'pool' apprentices as workloads fluctuate, to share costs.

Scottish Labour will also reshape Skills Development Scotland, making it a one stop shop that employers and employees can go to for information on education, skills and training. We will reform the careers advisory service so that it accurately presents the employment opportunities that are available to young people. Careers advisors need to be alerted to Scotland’s future needs, so that young people are made aware of the skills and qualifications that will be most in demand when they plan to enter the job market. The careers service must identify the individual needs and attributes of our young people and mentor and support them into meaningful employment.

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

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

Retrieved on 11/04/11 (12:52am) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Delivering social justice

For people who have grown-up in care or in financial hardship, for women struggling to manage the demands of family life, for disabled people and for unpaid and young carers there can be a many obstacles to accessing decent, secure jobs. To help support equity and inclusion during difficult economic times, Scottish Labour will take steps to ensure that the Scottish Future Jobs Fund and modern apprenticeship guarantee are accessible to the full range of Scotland's young people and consider the needs of those who face the most serious challenges in accessing the labour market. We want to ensure no-one is left behind.

We will establish a Fairer Scotland Commission, to consider the most effective action to tackle poverty, equality and social exclusion in Scotland. We will also establish a Scottish Centre for Financial Inclusion to guide the most excluded and vulnerable people through the maze of opportunities and support available to them, so that everyone in Scotland has the means to manage and get the most from their resources. We firmly believe that credit unions play an important role in offering alternative financial services to people living on low incomes and that they protect people when they fall on hard times. Scottish Labour therefore sees a key role for credit unions in our strategy to help lift people out of poverty.

We will deliver robust mechanisms to monitor the progress being made in tackling poverty - particularly child poverty - across Scotland. Scottish Labour is committed to supporting older people in a way that respects their dignity and recognises them as active citizens and not just as recipients of services. We want to challenge isolation at every turn, supporting instead the active participation of older people. We will sustain the concessionary travel scheme and better link it to community transport initiatives. We are also committed to ensuring the needs of older carers of adult children with disabilities are properly identified and addressed.

Scottish Labour recognises the particular role of kinship carers in preventing vulnerable young people going into care and we will establish minimum standards for the assessment and support of children in kinship care. For too long, there has been a postcode lottery in crucial financial and other support for kinship carers. Scottish Labour is committed to sitting down with local authorities and the UK government to resolve this frustrating and unacceptable situation.

We also know that effective support for carers can reduce the need for more expensive care services later on. We recognise the many challenges facing the range of carers in Scotland and want to continue funding pathways for carers' information, recognising the crucial role of carers' centres in providing information and support. We will work to ensure that information for carers continues to be as accessible as possible.

We are committed to supporting grandparents through the Grandparents' Charter and will, amongst other things, ensure that grandparents and other family members are given due consideration in the adoption or fostering process. Scottish Labour will strengthen the range of social work provision to help those who require support and protection in our communities.

Please see page 63-64 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

Retrieved on 08/04/11 (12:37am) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Supporting frontline policing and firefighters

We understand that people want to see more police on the streets and are anxious to know if frontline services will be protected in uncertain times. Scottish Labour will not make here today, gone tomorrow promises on police numbers - but we will guarantee that there will be no cuts to police on the beat and we will protect frontline police jobs and police numbers. We will also ensure that more police officers are out in communities, rather than stuck behind a desk. We are very clear - police officers should not be taken off the front line to cover the duties that should be carried out by police staff. We will ensure they can spend more time out on the beat - where they should be.

To increase administrative efficiencies and free up resources for the frontline, Scottish Labour will legislate to deliver a single police force for Scotland, with delegated authority and local accountability mechanisms. We will also deliver a single fire and rescue service, improving its performance and investing the savings in the frontline, so that we have the firefighters we need in our communities.

On the side of victims

Governments should be on the side of hardworking people, doing everything in their power to support families and individuals who do the right thing and want a decent life. Scottish Labour will therefore work to rebalance the justice system, giving greater focus to victims.

We will establish a Victims' Fund, requiring convicted offenders in Scotland to pay a levy which will help fund victim support services. A new Victims' Commissioner will champion a Charter of Victims' Rights that will, as a minimum, ensure victims and witnesses are given a clearer understanding of legal processes before, during and after their time in court. We will also aim to change the rules, so that victims are able to give impact statements to parole boards before the release of an offender is considered.

To support the victims of domestic violence, Scottish Labour will enable police and prosecutors to provide better protection, by providing a more robust response to breached civil protection orders. We will also widen the scope of the Victim Notification Scheme, so that all victims of domestic violence are informed if an individual is about to be released from custody. The Glasgow domestic abuse court has been highly successful in bringing perpetrators of domestic abuse to justice. Scottish Labour aims to build on this success by encouraging similar approaches in other parts of the country. Following a scheme in Strathclyde that has seen over a hundred persistent, dangerous and violent offenders brought to justice in its first year of operation, Scottish Labour will also roll out specialist domestic abuse taskforces across Scotland, supported by specialist domestic abuse prosecutors. We will seek to maintain funding for existing services that aim to tackle violence against women.

Rape conviction rates in Scotland are shockingly low and remain amongst the worst in the western world. Scottish Labour will ensure a renewed focus on improving the treatment of victims of rape in the justice system, reviewing the sexual offences legislation, as well as tough action to increase conviction rates to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice. We believe that the time has come to consider the arguments for reforming the need for corroboration in rape cases and will consider the recommendations of the Carloway Review.

The sexual exploitation of children is a horrific form of abuse. Worryingly, the age of victims of sexual exploitation is dropping and with greater internet use, child exploitation is becoming increasingly organised. Scottish Labour will seek to commission research on the nature and scope of child sexual exploitation in Scotland and take the tough action required to stop those who prey on young people. We will also pilot the use of GPS satellite tracking technology for serious sex offenders when they are released into the community.

Human trafficking amounts to modern - day slavery and with the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games just around the corner, there is a danger Scotland will see an increase in human trafficking. Scottish Labour will take tough action to root out this despicable crime and stop women in Scotland and those brought to this country being exploited. We are committed to cracking down on those who purchase sex and will build on the work done through the Criminalisation of the Purchase and Sale of Sex (Scotland) Bill. We will also bring forward a detailed and robust licensing scheme for those premises in which lap-dancing takes place.

Transparency in sentencing

Scottish Labour has listened to the concerns of knife crime campaigners and the tens of thousands of Scots who want the Government to crack down on knife criminals. We will take strong action and introduce mandatory minimum custodial sentences for knife crime in Scotland. We are very clear - if you carry a knife, you should go to jail. We will also work with the Scottish Sentencing Council to investigate whether to review the minimum sentence for knife murderers, as has been done in England and Wales.

For too long, victims, the public, lawyers and even the judiciary have said that they have little idea how long offenders will actually serve once they have been sentenced. Scottish Labour will deliver honesty and transparency in sentencing by working with the Scottish Sentencing Council to simplify the current complicated system of discounts. We will also take steps to end the iniquity of unconditional automatic early release for offenders serving over two years in prison and repeal dangerous plans to scrap the use of prison sentences of less than three months. Consideration will be given to allowing information on offenders' previous convictions to be cited in court.

We want to see asset confiscation become a standard part of sentencing. We will toughen up the proceeds of crime legislation to examine the possibility of building on the current practice in Ireland, where the burden of proof to show that funds have been acquired legitimately is placed on the accused. We will also extend the right to seize offenders' profits so that it includes assets like houses and cars.

We will institute an audit of Scots Criminal Law, ensuring that it is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, to avoid costly compensation claims and to ensure that the mistakes of the past will not happen again.

Please see pages 49-51 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

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

Retrieved on 12/04/11 (5:45pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Growing our creative industries

The arts sector will be critical in creating the economic growth that will lift Scotland out of tough times. That is why Scottish Labour's cultural policy will give priority to investment in the creative industries, devising a strategy for international promotion and delivering the new, skilled jobs that will be the fuel of Scotland's economic recovery.

We will do all we can to develop Dundee as a hub for high-quality design, supporting the emergent and successful games industry in the city and the V&A project. Scottish Labour will establish a Music Investment Fund, modelled in discussion with the music industry, Creative Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, to support the growth of small and medium businesses in the music sector.

We also want to use the creative industries to encourage inward investment in Scotland. In particular, we will explore the best ways to support our film industry. We will appoint a Scottish Film Champion, to promote greater collaboration between drama and film production in Scotland, to attract fresh investment and to drive forward new thinking.

Nurturing Scotland's musical talent

Investing in the skills of our young people is central to Scottish Labour's vision for Scotland. Their skills are the foundation on which our future prosperity rests and their creative talents are no exception. It is our ambition to give all children - no matter their background - the opportunity to access music tuition and musical instruments.

We will continue the Youth Music Initiative, ensuring that all children in P5 and P6 have access to music tuition. We will also establish a Musical Instrument Fund, to give assistance to those families who need it to access a musical instrument for their children's tuition.

Scottish Labour also aims to carry out a National Music Audit, to identify variations in music provision at local authority level and build on the best practice of already-successful programmes across Scotland. Scottish music is recognised world-wide for contemporary, classical and traditional music. Our policy will address how to support excellence in music.

Culture matters

Scottish Labour will work to ensure that every person, no matter their background, can become involved in cultural activity.

We remain committed to free admissions to our museums and galleries and will work with local authorities to ensure the continuation of this policy, including creating better access to art collections of national significance.

We will build on the success of the National Theatre's £10 season, working with theatres and sponsors to provide reduced-rate tickets for theatre performances across Scotland. We will also consider the feasibility of establishing a National Youth Companies Unit in Creative Scotland and will review how incentives for philanthropic support for the arts can be strengthened.

Scottish Labour will explore the best way to support young artists and Scottish art graduates early in their professional careers, so that they can continue to work in Scotland and use their talents to enrich our local communities. Similarly, we will support community arts, recognising that they are a vital component of developing strong communities. We will also give public institutions a new right to borrow works of art from the national collection, so that more people can benefit from our national heritage.

We know that libraries are at the heart of many communities and we understand why people feel so passionate about protecting them during difficult economic times. Scottish Labour recognises that libraries are a key way of achieving digital inclusion in Scotland and will do all we can to protect local services. We want to widen access to books and will prioritise the modernisation of library services, expanding the provision of superfast broadband, delivering free wifi for workers on the move and enhancing opportunities for e-book lending. We will also protect mobile libraries in rural areas. We will work with Glasgow City Council to secure funding for the Glasgow Women's Library, as it moves to become the Women's Library of Scotland.

Please see pages 86-87 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

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

Retrieved on 12/04/11 (6:34pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Building prosperity for all

Growing Scotland's economy and creating jobs will be Scottish Labour's first priority. That is why we will task every Cabinet Minister in Scotland with ensuring that economic growth and jobs are at the centre of their ambitions for government and pilot economic memorandums, which will analyse the impact of legislation on Scotland's economic growth.

Scottish Labour will create an Economic Cabinet at the heart of government, drawing on business, trade union and third sector experience to ensure the prioritisation of jobs and growth. We will scrap the Council of Economic Advisors, which has had little impact on policy-making.

Scottish Labour believes that Scotland needs investment and a clear plan for growth. Our future prosperity is not something to be left to chance. We need to seize the opportunities of the new green economy and will therefore prioritise the creation of green jobs in renewable technologies - aiming for up to 60,000 by 2015 - by making the planning system more efficient and seeking to develop export opportunities. We will also work to attract at least £1.5 billion of investment from the Green Investment Bank and campaign to ensure the bank is headquartered in Scotland.

Scottish Labour will develop an industrial policy - including a manufacturing strategy - designed to improve economic performance and unlock competitive potential.

We will set a target of doubling the value of exports over the next decade, with a particular focus on high value manufacturing, including defence, aerospace and renewable energy. To achieve this ambitious aim, we will ask Scottish Development International (SDI) to produce new ways of promoting Scotland to attract foreign investment and to work with enterprise agencies in promoting export opportunities for Scottish companies. We will also ask SDI to work with the Scottish Council for Development and Industry and Scottish Chambers International to create a new network of Scottish Trade Centres in emerging markets, using the expertise of the Scottish exporters already there to support the development of new exporters.

Not only have Scottish discoveries, fresh ideas and innovation - from the telephone, to Dolly the Sheep - aided our nation's historic success, they will be the drivers of our economic future. We need to keep Scotland at the forefront of technology and innovation. Scottish Labour will therefore ask every Scottish Government department to develop innovative and small business procurement plans, which will reward innovation by ensuring new businesses are able to take advantage of public contracts. We will set a new target so that five per cent of each department's procurement budget is set aside for innovation.

We will ensure that Scottish Water is kept in public ownership, enhancing powers so that it can fulfil its renewable energy potential and use its assets more effectively.

We will also drive down the government's spending on consultants.

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

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

Retrieved on 12/04/11 (2:25pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Excellent, innovative schools

In tough economic times, parents and children rightly expect Scotland's education system to give young people the skills they will need to get ahead in the future. Scottish Labour is determined that our education system rises to these expectation through innovative schools that inspire and equip all children for the vast array of challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Schools should meet both the individual and collective needs of their pupils, including those who wish to develop practical and vocational skills, as well as those who focus on more academic subjects. To support this aim, we will foster closer co-operation between schools, colleges and employers in providing vocational education. In schools where there is considerable demand, we will invest in on-site provision, so that pupils can choose vocational subjects when they make their subject choices at S1 or S2. We will also encourage schools in adjacent areas to work together to increase pupil choice in Advanced Higher subjects.

We want to support head teachers and their staff by establishing the First Class Fund, to help schools implement these ambitious plans to develop vocational education. The Fund, which builds on the success of Labour's Schools of Ambition and Determined to Succeed programmes, will channel additional resources, separate from devolved school management budgets, to help schools develop innovative provision or develop a specialism that increases the diversity of vocational provision within the education authority, extending choice and increasing quality.

Excellent, innovative schools need excellent, innovative buildings. Scottish Labour will scrap the Scottish Futures Trust - which has stalled Scotland's ambitious school building programme - and deliver improved funding mechanisms to enhance the school estate. We will explore all options to replace, rebuild or demolish those schools rated as 'unsuitable' and will ensure that education gets its fair share of available capital resources to improve facilities where most needed.

Better basics

An estimated 13,000 pupils in Scotland leave school each year still experiencing difficulty with reading, writing or numeracy. This is a waste of human and economic potential. Scottish Labour will therefore take a zero tolerance approach to illiteracy and innumeracy, ensuring that our future workforce is able to meet the needs of employers and that higher literacy levels are a central objective of the Curriculum for Excellence.

Scottish Labour will implement the key recommendations of the Literacy Commission, driving up standards in literacy and numeracy by offering specialised jobs and training to up to 1000 recently qualified teachers who are struggling to find employment. These teachers will deliver additional targeted support in small groups in English and Maths for those who need it.

We will develop a strategy to encourage school pupils who have an interest in the skills that will drive future innovation and economic prosperity - science, technology, engineering and maths. To tackle gendered career segregation later on, it is particularly important to encourage girls and young women to choose these pathways.

Trusting teachers and support staff

Scotland's teachers are well-placed to know the needs of their pupils and the best way to ensure that each child succeeds. We recognise that delivering good quality education would not be possible without the vital contribution made by classroom assistants and other support staff to the school community. We will give heads more responsibility for decisions around the curriculum and more flexibility over the deployment of staff and resources. We will ensure that the Curriculum for Excellence is brought back on track, so that teachers - and parents and pupils - can have confidence in the examination system and the curriculum into which it fits. If we are to successfully nurture the potential of all of Scotland's young people, we need to attract the best talent to teaching. Scottish Labour welcomes the recommendations of the Donaldson report and we believe the time is now right for reviewing all aspects of leadership, management and training in education. We will work with teachers to raise professional standards and develop leadership potential, encouraging local authorities to support and prioritise continuing professional development for teachers during the transition to the Curriculum for Excellence.

Please see pages 27-29 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

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

Retrieved on 12/04/11 (3:40pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Energy

Scottish Labour will encourage future prosperity by ensuring Scotland is a net exporter of energy and will work to improve grid connections between Scotland and the rest of the UK and Europe to capitalise on this opportunity. We will set up Energy Scotland to drive forward Scotland as a world leader in the low carbon sector.

Scottish Labour supports the ambitious target of ensuring that 80 per cent of our energy comes from renewables by 2020 and is committed to a Green New Deal, which will provide renewable electricity generation opportunities to at least 10,000 homes - creating jobs, traineeships and new business for local firms. We will encourage the development of marine technology by doubling the value of the Saltire prize to £20 million. Any application for consent to new nuclear capacity will be considered on its merits, in terms of safety, environmental impact, the local community and other planning considerations.

We will not consent to new, non-replacement fossil fuel power stations unless they can demonstrate effective carbon capture and storage technology from the outset. We will also encourage operators of conventional power stations to develop models to minimise heat waste.

Please see pages 14-15 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

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

Retrieved on 12/04/11 (2:20pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

A Green economy

Scottish Labour's priority is to rebuild our economy, but to do so in a way that ensures it becomes fairer and cleaner. We are determined to ensure Scotland comes out of the recession stronger, with our economy making the historic switch from high to low carbon and our people trained in the industries of the future. We know that the next industrial revolution will be in the green low and zero carbon industries. We will therefore prioritise the creation of green jobs in renewable technologies - aiming for up to 60,000 by 2015 - and will speed up the granting of planning consent and build export opportunities to achieve this.

Scottish Labour will introduce a Green New Deal for Scotland. We will fit at least 10,000 homes with community and household renewables, such as solar panels and community heat and power schemes. This will provide a new revenue stream for housing associations, co-operatives and local authorities through the feed-in tariff. Scottish Labour's Green New Deal will create 300 new manufacturing and installation jobs, as well as around 750 training places.

We will continue to develop the Central Scotland Green Network, with a focus on opportunities to promote environmental volunteering and training for young people. We will also work to attract £1.5 billion of investment from the Green Investment Bank and campaign to ensure that it is headquartered in Scotland.

Scotland's transport choices need to be greener. Scottish Labour's transport policies will therefore encourage people to switch from private cars to public transport, support the electrification of cars - starting with the phasing in of hybrid or electric cars in the government's vehicle fleet - and encourage walking and cycling, with an increased proportion of the transport budget channelled towards active travel.

Tackling climate change

We believe that the challenge of climate change should be used as an opportunity to kick-start new ways of thinking - from taking collective, wide-ranging action to reduce our carbon emissions, to finding more efficient ways of delivering public services. Scottish Labour is committed to achieving the 42 per cent carbon emissions reduction target by 2020 and the 80 per cent target by 2050, as laid out in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act. To support this, we will maintain funding for the Climate Challenge Fund and will increase its effectiveness. We will also strengthen public engagement.

We believe that a strong public duty is required to help drive change. This needs to include mandatory reporting and should identify the contribution that could be made by encouraging greener workplaces and work practices.

Improving our environment

Environmental justice demands that nobody is left behind as we work to improve Scotland's environment. From those living in the most deprived urban areas, to those in remote rural communities, everyone in Scotland has the right to breathe fresh air and live in a clean, healthy community.

In recent years there has been some success in increasing recycling rates and reducing the disposal of waste in landfill. The potential opportunities garnered from waste reduction and finding opportunities to extract value from discarded materials is increasingly being realised and now creates a significant number of secure jobs across Scotland. Scottish Labour will make further investments in this area in the years to come and we have an ambition to move towards a zero waste Scotland.

We will consider the role council tax incentives could have in achieving this and will introduce a series of gradually phased-in bans on recyclable and biodegradable material going to landfill. We also aim to introduce 'recycling on the go', with separated recycling bins on streets and in shopping centres.

We will support new allotments and community gardens in both rural and urban areas, as a way of promoting affordable local food production. This will help set the expectation that green procurement is the norm, particularly for food provision, and help to generate new markets and supply chains for low carbon products.

Scottish Labour will explore the possibilities for restoring Scotland's peat lands and will continue to support new tree planting as part of our climate change strategy, looking particularly at tackling the obstacles to increasing tree and woodland cover. We will support the proposals for a Central Scotland Orchard. We will also encourage the use of wood products in the construction industry and will only purchase wood and wood-fibre based products from sources which are legal and sustainable, through schemes such as the Forest Stewardship Council. We will assess the effectiveness of the policy, ensuring that necessary controls are in place throughout the whole timber supply chain. We will continue to support the development of renewables on the national forestry estate and will focus on promoting opportunities for local communities to develop projects. Scottish Labour will also ensure Scotland's forests remain in public ownership.

On land reform, Scottish Labour will review the groundbreaking legislation we introduced in the early years of the Parliament, with a view to promoting new opportunities for communities to own and manage their assets. We will also look at the new Land Use Strategy, to ensure it helps to reconcile competing pressures for different land uses and will review flood management funding, to ensure that defences can be put into place more quickly. Given that Scotland is not currently meeting its biodiversity targets, we will use the opportunity of the 2012 Rio +10 sustainable development conference to refresh the Scottish Government's sustainable development strategy. We will develop a pilot measure of sustainable development, complimentary to GDP.

We will also continue to encourage long distance walking and cycling routes. We are supportive of the proposal for a John Muir Way from his birthplace in Dunbar to our first National Park in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, to celebrate his centenary in 2014.

Please see pages 74-76 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

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

Retrieved on 12/04/11 (6:08pm) 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?

Scottish Labour Leader Iain Gray [candidate for East Lothian] said:

"Education is the single most important lever in transforming people's lives. From our youngest children learning to read, to research scientists on the cutting edge of new discoveries, education drives our futures and also Scotland's ability to create wealth and opportunity.

"I was the first person in family to go to university and I will not impose additional burdens on young people. Youth unemployment is unacceptably high and we have not emerged from the recession.

"That is why if I am first minister, a Labour government will not introduce any up-front fees or graduate contribution for access to higher education in the lifetime of the next Parliament. There will be no price tag on education.

"Bringing in a graduate contribution would not resolve the present financial difficulties of the universities which are the responsibility of the current SNP government.

"Experts figures show that the gap is significantly less than some had predicted and can and will be met.

"There needs to be a root and branch examination of the entire system of further and higher education. We need to fully examine the transition between school and university, how examinations can be improved and the type of courses our education system provides.

"We also need to see how the sector can be made more efficient and more responsive and how we can make the funding model can be improved to get a better fit with demand and need for graduates.

"It's clearly time to see how the student experience can be improved and how we can we improve access to higher education.

"If I am elected First Minister I will order that review immediately and ensure that our higher education sector gets the support it needs."

[SCREEN GRAB OF THIS POLICY]

Retrieved on 21/03/11 (3:35pm) from: Email Submission

Protecting the NHS

Scottish Labour will support the NHS in the face of unprecedented financial pressures, protecting the NHS budget in Scotland and passing on all Barnett consequentials for health. We will prioritise the protection of NHS jobs, ensuring that there are no compulsory redundancies for staff within the NHS partnership model. We reject the UK government proposals to introduce market values to the NHS and will ensure that in Scotland the NHS remains a public service, publicly delivered.

Whilst protecting NHS spending, we cannot allow a single penny to be spent without achieving maximum efficiency. Our commitment to driving down costs will focus on the elimination of waste, so that we can protect jobs and patient care on the frontline. We will review all NHS bonus schemes, performance-related pay, merit and distinction awards and reduce the number of health boards, immediately cutting the number of special health boards as a first step. We will also look to merge IT systems and drive better asset management, such as the sale of unused land. We believe there are further efficiencies to be made in the prescribing of medicines, including the use of generic medicines and streamlining the system for repeat prescriptions. Every pound of efficiency savings generated by the NHS will stay in the NHS.

Improving delivery

The challenges of a fast-paced 21st century Scotland require a modern, dynamic health service that does not shy away from change. Scottish Labour is committed to shifting the focus of the NHS in Scotland, from being a reactive service for ill health, towards being a local, proactive, patient-centred service for health and well-being.

Too many people enter the healthcare system or are admitted to hospital for medical treatment when we know that the right support, at the right time, would have prevented ill health and enabled them to remain in their own home. Whilst retaining our commitment to free personal care, Scottish Labour will deliver a new National Care Service to provide the right care in the right setting. Not only will this be a first step towards ending the postcode lottery in care, but it will also tackle delayed discharge, which is costing the NHS millions. We will restore dignity in care and end 15 minute home care visits.

We are determined to find new ways of providing health services that are as local as possible and, as a start, will maintain A&E services at Monklands and Ayr hospitals. We will support the use of community hospitals and take steps to ensure that patients have access to treatment as close to their homes as is safely possible. We also believe that, even in a difficult economic climate, it should be possible for people at the end of their lives to be cared for and die in the place of their choice.

We will evaluate the current pilots of public participation and direct elections to health boards, to ensure greater democratic accountability for the health service. Scottish Labour will review and reform Community Health and Care Partnerships, to ensure that they are better placed to act as a democratic delivery model for the new National Care Service and to better involve local authorities, patient groups and voluntary organisations. We will ensure that the NHS has the right mix of skills, including specialist nurses for conditions such as cancer or epilepsy, and a range of allied health professionals, such as physiotherapists, occupational, speech and language therapists.

We will revise health and social care procurement procedures, ending e-auctions for social care contracts and introducing quality standards.

Scottish Labour will review the health service's resilience to winter weather conditions, with a particular focus on capacity in rural areas. We will ensure that the needs of vulnerable people are met, for example, through a national helpline when bad weather strikes.

Better, cleaner hospitals

Patients and their families have a right to know that when they go into hospital, they will be treated in safe conditions. Scottish Labour's priority will be to eliminate superbugs in the NHS and we will work towards implementing a refreshed 15-point plan, drawn-up with two of the UK's leading health experts, Professors Hugh Pennington and Brian Toft.

Scottish Labour will also support research into the causes and treatments of healthcare associated infections, such as C.Diff and MRSA, and will establish a properly resourced reference laboratory to ensure we look ahead to proactively identify and quickly deal with new infections. We further believe that individual rooms should be prioritised during the building of new hospitals, to aid infection control.

We believe that there is a serious gap in care for children and adult sufferers of chronic pain in Scotland and it is wrong to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds sending Scottish patients on journeys of hundreds of miles to seek treatment in England. Scottish Labour will seek to deliver increased action and awareness of chronic pain in primary care and throughout the NHS, look to enhance managed clinical networks for chronic pain and provide the option of residential treatment for sufferers, based on the model of Bronllys in Wales. For those suffering from long-term conditions, we will also retain the Self Management Fund for patients beyond 2011.

A focus on fairness

Scottish Labour's founding vision for the NHS was to establish a service that provides universal care of the highest standards. This principle remains as important today as it was 60 years ago. It is unacceptable that health inequality is still so strongly linked to income levels, poverty and deprivation and that quality of provision varies from one part of Scotland to another. Scottish Labour will work to end the postcode lottery in healthcare, ensuring that our services provide equal treatment, free at the point of need, in every part of Scotland. We will, for example, consider measures to help equalise access to IVF services and expand the provision of insulin pumps for young people.

To ensure equitable access to hospitals, Scottish Labour will seek to complete the abolition of hospital parking charges by investigating if this can also be achieved in PPP-owned and managed car park. With Scottish Labour, there will be no reintroduction of charges for prescriptions in Scotland.

We will continue to invest in NHS dentistry in Scotland and pursue the aspirations for improving patient access and reducing oral health inequalities set out in Labour's Dental Action Plan. We will also maintain free eye and dental checks for patients.

We will ensure fairness for Scotland's veterans and will continue to develop a programme for their health support, including support for those who have been deployed by the Territorial Army.

Tackling waiting times

Despite real progress, cancer still blights the lives of too many Scottish families. Scottish Labour will introduce a new right to see a cancer specialist and get results within two weeks by 2015, halving the current waiting time of one month, where clinically appropriate. We will also pledge support for the programme of financial advice projects for patients at the five main cancer centres across Scotland.

Please see pages 38-41 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

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

Retrieved on 12/04/11 (5:24pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Meeting Scotland's housing needs

In difficult economic times, we know many people in Scotland are anxious to obtain and retain secure, affordable homes. Scottish Labour will work to meet the target that all unintentionally homeless people are offered a secure tenancy by 2012 and will provide guidance on the interpretation of homelessness and housing legislation. We will also review the effectiveness of current schemes to help those facing repossession, as well as implementing the pre-action protocols campaigned for by Labour.

Scottish Labour will ensure that housing allocations address priority needs - including the needs of key workers - but also that sufficient weight is given to meeting the needs of local people. We are committed to building housing that suits the specific needs of people, including older people and those with disabilities. We will therefore explore how best sensitive lettings can be used to support vulnerable people and to ensure sustainable communities. We will also fulfil our commitment to meeting the Scottish Housing Quality Standard and consult on raising building standards, especially with regard to energy efficiency.

We understand the urgency of delivering homes that are affordable. Scottish Labour will introduce First Foot - a new mortgage indemnity guarantee scheme that will reduce the level of deposit required of first time home buyers to only five or ten per cent, helping them to realise their aspiration of owning a home.

We will examine how we can prioritise funding for housing and will explore alternative sources of finance - including establishing an infrastructure fund to encourage private developers - to ensure that more houses are built to satisfy demand. Scottish Labour will also consider the establishment of a new taskforce to identify the changing needs and challenges we face in housing supply and examine the role of local authorities, housing associations and co-operatives in increasing supply.

We will support community-based housing associations and housing co-operatives with a stable level of subsidy, ensuring they are able to fulfil their roles as community anchors providing a range of services for people in their local communities. We believe the time is now right to review the role of Cooperative Development Scotland and we will consider the part it might play in supporting the creation of housing cooperatives.

We will ensure that tenants are consulted on how their housing is provided and their local community is supported. We will put in place procedures so that the Housing Regulator, whilst fulfilling its regulatory role, is responsive to the views of tenants. Scottish Labour will look to establish a Housing Advisory Service which will provide aspirant tenants and homeowners with advice on housing tailored to their needs. We will also consider ways to establish a Housing Tribunal to simplify the ways of ruling on housing legislation.

Whilst we know that policies need to support stable communities, we recognise that housing needs are diverse. Housing should meet the needs of a range of people, including those seeking home ownership and middle market renting. Scottish Labour will require all property factors to comply with a code of conduct that will end the nightmare many homeowners face at the hands of unscrupulous factors.

We also recognise the contribution of the private rented sector to meeting affordable housing needs. We will seek to make further improvements in this sector and encourage responsible investment, tightening up the landlord registration scheme to root out rogue landlords and act to ensure that landlords take action to tackle anti-social behaviour and maintain standards in the properties they rent. Scottish Labour recognises that a credible strategy is needed to bring Scotland's 25,000 long-term empty homes back into use. As a first step we will commit to funding the Empty Homes Partnership beyond 2012 and ensure that the Scottish Government's housing budget can be used to bring empty properties back into use.

Please see pages 60-61 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

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

Retrieved on 12/04/11 (5:56pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Working with local government

Scottish Labour knows that local authorities have a crucial role to play in designing and delivering local services and driving the economy forward and we are committed to working in partnership to deliver a stronger Scotland. That is why we will deliver a new process of consultation through which an accord between Scottish central and local government will be delivered, based on the principles of mutual respect, transparency and accountability to all stakeholders. We will aim to deliver an accord that is more strategically focussed and underpinned by national goals that lend themselves to local priorities.

Developing a social dialogue and partnership between the Scottish Government, COSLA, trade unions and the voluntary sector will be central to ensuring local services are delivered in the most effective manner. We will therefore develop a structure which promotes partnership working at a strategic level in local government, so that transparenc in decision-making is improved and the future development of local government across Scotland is jointly shared by all social partners.

Just as Scottish Labour in government would prioritise economic growth, we will ensure that economic development becomes a statutory duty of local government.To incentivise economic development at the local level, Scottish Labour will ensure that local authorities can retain a proportion of the business rates raised through increased economic activity. We will also provide cities with new powers and responsibilities to drive growth and regeneration and will create a new City Growth Fund to support our cities.

Scottish Labour will freeze the council tax for the next two years, ensuring that the freeze is sustainably funded. But whilst we deliver this support, we know that local authorities cannot afford for a single penny to be wasted. Whilst some local authorities have been on a forward footing on shared services - from sharing backroom functions to delivering joint frontline services - the agenda has often lacked momentum and drive at the centre. We believe that the Scottish Government has a key role to play in fostering a culture in which joint working thrives. Scottish Labour will introduce the reforms required to deliver the intended benefits of shared services, including strengthening the procurement guidance to facilitate agreements between public service organisations.

Scottish Labour will abolish the failed Scottish Futures Trust, whilst retaining some of its functions within the Infrastructure Investment Unit. There will be a level playing field for investment and we will use all available finance mechanisms, including prudential borrowing, to deliver suitable, sustainable funding to get Scotland's public building programme moving again.

Planning, at both local and national level, plays a critical role in economic growth and economic benefit should be one of the key considerations when making planning decisions. We want to see a culture in planning that tries to assist economic growth and sustainable development, whilst also taking into account other factors, such as the impact on communities. Scottish Labour will work closely with local government to carry out a 'health check' on the recent changes to the planning system, updating the National Planning Framework with wide input from industry, to ensure that it is delivering for Scotland.

We believe firmly in the principle of local democracy and will standardise participation in Community Planning Partnerships, ensuring that there is a diversity of voices heard in community planning processes.

Please see pages 67-69 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

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

Retrieved on 10/04/11 (11:31pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Download this image HERE

Extracted from Scottish Labour Party manifesto

Retrieved on 19/04/11 (4:24pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Supporting our rural and island communities

Scotland's rural communities - along with being key to Scotland's cultural and social heritage - play an important role in our economy and will be a vital component in getting Scotland through the tough times. Scottish Labour will establish a new Commission for Rural Scotland, to report on how best to ensure remote, rural and island communities are not left behind as cuts to front-line services take hold, and can instead continue to contribute to building Scotland's prosperity.

To support our rural communities, Scottish Labour will lobby the UK Government to reverse the VAT rise on fuel. We will campaign to support the retention of the universal service obligation, which ensures rural communities have access to decent mail services and will also work with communities to protect and develop local post offices in rural locations.

Scottish Labour will support rural business by ensuring that training opportunities exist for industries important to rural areas, such as land management, textiles, tourism and renewables industries. We will also explore what more can be done to support local businesses in rural communities, including bringing forward a broadband strategy to extend and improve the quality of broadband and mobile coverage in remote and economically fragile rural areas.

We will support fairness for food producers through campaigning for reform of the EU Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy. We will work to support a viable, community-focussed fishing industry. We will also look both at the needs of communities who rely on fishing and will work in partnership to develop a sustainable vision for our fishing industries for the future.

Scottish Labour will ensure that the review of support for farming considers how to deliver a range of benefits for our communities, including the provision of good quality food, well-maintained land, a scenic and biodiverse environment, well-managed water quality and climate change mitigation. We will continue to work to support farming in lessfavoured areas and seek to use the Rural Development Programme to support the development of cooperatives and support for processing and marketing for Scottish produce, to ensure rural communities gain added value from food production. Scottish Labour continues to support the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board as an important protector of decent wages in farming communities. On tenant farming, Scottish Labour will take action on rent review clauses and will address inheritance anomalies.

Scottish Labour will continue to support our crofting communities. We will reflect the strong views of crofters during the passage of the Crofting (Scotland) Act 2010 by not commencing the second register specified by the Act, and not commencing reporting by grazings clerks. We will focus instead on practical measures to support crofters in keeping their land management activities viable and helping them to find new economic activity.

Please see pages 79-80 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

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

Retrieved on 12/04/11 (2:32am) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

A sporting Scotland

Participating in sporting activity uncovers talent and develops skills that are vital to our nation's future success, including nurturing confidence, teamwork and drive. The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games offer an unprecedented opportunity to showcase our nation to the world. But the Games also offer a unique opportunity to showcase sport to Scotland's young people. Scottish Labour will work with partners to ensure that the Commonwealth Games are as accessible as possible to Scotland's younger generation and will introduce Commonwealth Legacy Schools, to ensure that the legacy of the Games is an investment in Scotland's future talent.

Protecting the integrity of Scotland's professional sport is vital. We will work with governing authorities to ensure that professional clubs are accountable to their stakeholders, run transparently and on sound financial principles, with greater involvement in our local communities and enhanced supporter representation. Scottish Labour will continue and enhance support for Supporters Direct, to give football fans a say in our national game.

We will continue to support Scotland's University of Sport at Stirling beyond 2011, to ensure our athletes have access to the support they need to become sporting champions and to promote a nation-wide culture of sport and physical activity. Scottish Labour will also consult on bringing forward a Sport Bill within the lifetime of the next parliament, which will safeguard and improve the provision of opportunities for sport, leisure and physical activity for all people in Scotland.

Please see pages 89-90 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

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

Retrieved on 10/04/11 (1:58am) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

CTP has extracted two sections on this policy from the party's manifesto. See page details below.

Taxation

We want Scotland to be a competitive location in which to do business. To create an environment in which Scottish businesses can prosper, we will maintain parity with the English non-domestic poundage rate. We will not increase the income tax rate above that of the rest of the UK in the course of the next parliament.

We will seek to improve the current system of non-domestic rates and will review the reliefs that are available. We will also review the frequency of non-domestic property revaluations, pledging that every revaluation will be accompanied by a transitional relief scheme.

******

Scottish Labour will freeze the council tax for the next two years, ensuring that the freeze is sustainably funded. But whilst we deliver this support, we know that local authorities cannot afford for a single penny to be wasted. Whilst some local authorities have been on a forward footing on shared services - from sharing backroom functions to delivering joint frontline services - the agenda has often lacked momentum and drive at the centre. We believe that the Scottish Government has a key role to play in fostering a culture in which joint working thrives. Scottish Labour will introduce the reforms required to deliver the intended benefits of shared services, including strengthening the procurement guidance to facilitate agreements between public service organisations.

Please see page 17 and page 68 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

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

Retrieved on 12/04/11 (2:36pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Tourism

Tourism is both a cornerstone of Scotland's economy and a huge opportunity for growth and development in Scotland's future. We must not allow tough economic times to halt the pace of progress.

Scottish Labour will therefore boost the voice of the tourism industry. To do this, we will reduce the duplication between Scottish Enterprise and Visit Scotland, making Visit Scotland the lead organisation on tourism development. We also need to ensure the tourism sector uses the resources that are available to it to best effect and this will include improving the functionality of the visitscotland.com website, so that it can take bookings.

Many visitors to Scotland come for big events, like the forthcoming Commonwealth Games, but do not always take advantage of the opportunities to see more of Scotland whilst they are here. That is why VisitScotland and EventScotland will be tasked with delivering a 'See More of Scotland' campaign for event visitors.

To encourage growth in the sector, we will ensure that our cultural strategies - particularly those designed to promote Scotland's galleries and museums - are fully integrated into transport and tourism strategies.

Please see page 15 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

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

Retrieved on 12/04/11 (2:19pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto

Getting Scotland moving

Scottish Labour will not close-off any funding mechanism as we work towards delivering the world-class infrastructure that our businesses and economy rely on for competitiveness and connectivity. We know that high speed broadband will be as important for economic growth in the future as good roads and railways. We will appoint a Digital Champion and bring forward a strategy to improve the quality and coverage of broadband, bringing pressure on the UK Government to deliver its commitment to roll out broadband access to all British homes by 2015.

Scottish Labour will begin to tackle the maintenance backlog on Scotland's roads, ensuring that those with statutory entitlements to dig up Scotland's roads are required to repair the surface timeously and to acceptable standards. We are also committed to finding finance to complete the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, the M8 Baillieston to Newhouse upgrade, the M74 Raith Interchange, and to deliver improvements to the M8, M73 and M74. We also aim to prepare a programme of continuous improvements to the A82, A1, A9, A77, A75, A95 and A96.

We will deliver the new Forth Replacement Crossing. This is a vital project to safeguard an essential link in the country's transport network and will be the largest infrastructure project in a generation. We will deliver on our commitment to empower the public to choose the name of the new bridge.

The current economic climate means that the decision to increase VAT has raised the price of petrol at the pump by nearly three pence per litre, punishing motorists and hitting rural communities particularly hard. We believe these increases are unfair and we will continue to push the UK Government to reverse them.

We will be advocates of high-speed rail links to London and Europe and will seek to future-proof Scotland's network to ensure this is a possibility. Our ambition is to see direct services from Scotland to Paris and Brussels. Scottish Labour will take forward the Edinburgh/Glasgow Rail Improvement Project (EGIP), including seeking to improve journey times between Glasgow and Edinburgh to under 40 minutes, taking forward Crossrail and delivering more commuting opportunities from Ayrshire and Renfrewshire, and from rural Lanarkshire to Edinburgh and Glasgow. We will consider all options for the Scotrail franchise, including public and not for profit models and will work to deliver free Wi-Fi and 3G mobile phone coverage as part of the next contract. We will reinstate plans for the Glasgow Airport Rail Link.

We will support the modernisation of Glasgow's subway and will campaign to ensure that any changes to the East Coast Main Line do not disadvantage Lanarkshire - Edinburgh commuters. We will seek to progress the expansion of through-ticketing in Scotland. Scottish Labour will set up an Air Route Marketing Fund to support new, direct air routes to Scotland - particularly from the emerging markets - during their first two years of operation. We will also retain the Air Discount Scheme, which has proved invaluable for our island communities.

Everybody benefits from lower levels of congestion and pollution when we take heavy lorries off the road and move freight onto the railways. Scottish Labour will support the Freight Facilities Grant to encourage the transfer of freight from road to rail. We will also look at what can be done to make better use of inland waterways and improve links to ports, such as Grangemouth.

Scottish Labour will make the Road Equivalent Tariff pilot permanent in the Western Isles and will widen coverage to ferry services to the Clyde and the Argyll isles. We will work with the current ferry operator, with an ambition to reinstate a passenger service between Rosyth and Zeebrugge and ensure that all other options for a new service are maximised.

Scottish Labour will make certain our communities are served by better bus services through strengthening regulation. We will improve the Green Bus Fund to help local authorities and transport providers purchase greener, hybrid buses, securing highly skilled jobs and improving the air quality in our towns and cities. The Fund should also be directed to ensure the current bus fleet meets a higher environmental grade.

We believe that the Scottish Government must take a lead in making the switch to greener modes of transport. Scottish Labour will phase out diesel and petrol cars for government use, including ministerial cars, and replace them with greener hybrid or electric vehicles. We also need to invest in new infrastructure for electric vehicles, with an ambitious target for 10,000 electric charging points by 2015.

Scottish Labour is also determined to see walking and cycling become a more convenient, attractive and realistic choice for many short journeys and will retain the target of ensuring that 10 per cent of trips be made by bike by 2020. To achieve this, we will ensure that active travel receives a higher proportion of the overall transport budget and promote the Cycle Friendly Employer Award Scheme, which recognises workplaces that put in place measures to create a culture of cycling. Where possible, Scottish Labour will work with partners to encourage bicycle banks - like those developed in London - and tube-style bike maps, to promote the growth of cycling in our towns and cities.

Please see pages 18-21 of the Scottish Labour Party manifesto for this policy.

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

Retrieved on 12/04/11 (3:11pm) from: 2011 Party Manifesto