The SNP's Scottish election manifesto at-a-glance
EPAThe Scottish National Party has unveiled its manifesto for the Scottish Parliament election on 7 May.
Below are some of the main policies featured in the 72-page document.
Top priorities
- Bring down the cost of living
- Eradicate child poverty
- Improve public services and the NHS
- Scottish independence
Cost of living
- Price cap on essential supermarket items - such as bread, milk and eggs
- Extend funded childcare support to every child aged from nine months to the end of primary school, all year round.
- £2 cap on single bus fare nationwide
- Ensure a majority of Scots pay less income tax than they would elsewhere in the UK, with no increases to bands or rates
- Increase Scottish Child Payment to £40 for those most in need
- Pilot a minimum income for artists
Getty ImagesEconomy
- A major projects office to speed up the delivery of "nationally significant" initiatives
- A high-growth unit to accelerate the growth of high-potential businesses
- Reform the planning system
- "Substantially" reduce the number of public bodies in Scotland
- 25% increase in our international development funding
- Simplify the income tax system
- Unlock £20bn of investible pension fund assets
- Create a National Council for Economic Growth
- Launch a First Minister's Start-up Challenge - encouraging young people from disadvantaged or under-represented backgrounds to start businesses
NHS and care
- Cut waiting lists and spend £200m a year on increasing the number of operations
- Pass on any increases in health spending by the Treasury to the NHS
- Expand a network of walk-in GP practices to end the "8am rush" for appointments
- At least £10bn in capital spending, to fund new buildings and equipment
- "One stop shops" in villages, pharmacies, sports clubs and workplaces across for lung and heart health "MOTs".
- Launch an NHS app, a national booking system and digital prescribing
- Expand 24/7 mental health support
- Roll out naloxone kits to bars and clubs to help prevent drugs deaths
- National review of maternity services
Immigration
- Urge the UK government to deliver a Scottish visa scheme
- Stand in solidarity with refugees and asylum seekers
Democracy
- Council tax reform to be a "high priority"
Housing
- Build more homes and create a new housing agency
- Help for first-time buyers with up to £10,000 through an equity loan towards a deposit
- The right of first refusal for private renters to buy the property they live in if it goes on sale
- £75m housing fund for rural and island communities
- Mansion tax on properties valued at over £1m
- £50m Homelessness Prevention Fund
Justice
- Reduce the hours police officers need to spend in courts and hospitals
- Ban conversion practices
- £10m over the next three years to tackle retail crime
- Increase the use of Football Banning Orders to stamp out dangerous and abusive behaviour at matches
- Criminalise the purchase of sex
- Make permanent a Fund to Leave scheme for victims of domestic abuse
- Remove the so-called "crime of passion" defence of provocation in murder trials
- Invest in community sentencing as an alternative to prison, as well as two new jails
Education
- "Welcome to school" bags for all primary one pupils, including books, stationery and water bottles
- 150,000 apprenticeships
- Teacher job guarantee for a minimum of three years for newly qualified graduates
- Mobile phone ban in schools
- Expand free school meals to all primary pupils
- Bright Start Breakfast clubs across all primary and special schools from August 2027
Environment
- Reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2045
- £500m Just Transition Fund to support workers and businesses
- Support the creation of 500 extra jobs in the Grangemouth industrial cluster
- £9m support for workers at Mossmorran
- Create a ScotWind Wealth Fund to provide energy and financial security for future generations
- Accelerate investment in offshore wind, solar, pumped storage and emerging technologies
- Calls for the UK government to consider climate compatibility and energy security on North Sea oil and gas projects
- Formally request the transfer of energy powers from Westminster to Holyrood
Transport
- A Private Jet Tax and explore the possibility of taxing "ghost" flights from private jets
- Invest in the A9, A96 and a £350m "Better Surfaces" fund to fix potholes
Defence
- Oppose nuclear weapons and back the removal of Trident from Scotland
- Stand with Ukraine and support a two-state solution in the Middle East with an independent, sovereign Palestinian state

