THE SNP’S DAMNING DOSSIER OF FAILURE
Truth about the Nationalists’ dismal record in power that everyone thinking of voting for them tomorrow SHOULD read
IN TOMORROW’S local elections, voters will get their chance to pass judgment on the SNP’s record in government. While local priorities and policies will be a key focus in some areas, the debate about national issues will also be at the forefront of most voters’ minds when they enter the ballot box.
At the weekend, a damning poll revealed major concerns with the Scottish Government’s performance in all the key areas it is responsible for: schools, health, economy and crime.
The Panelbase poll of 1,009 Scots for the Sunday Times showed that 24 per cent of voters believe standards in schools have improved under the SNP, while 46 per cent think standards have deteriorated.
Only 23 per cent of respondents believed there has been an improvement in the health service, while 56 per cent thought performance had slipped amid growing concern about lengthy waiting lists.
Just 23 per cent of respondents felt the streets have become safer under the SNP, compared to 39 per cent who felt less safe, while 35 per cent felt the Government had done a good job on the economy, and 39 per cent thought it had done a bad job.
Here, Scottish Political Editor MICHAEL BLACKLEY assesses the key areas voters might consider before entering the polling station – and how the SNP Government has performed.
SCHOOLS
NICOLA Sturgeon has declared improving schools and tackling the poverty-related attainment gap a top priority.
But pupils have suffered more than two years of chaos since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and the decision-making of SNP ministers has been heavily criticised.
When exams had to be scrapped in 2020 because of the Covid lockdown, more than 120,000 pupils had their results downgraded by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) because of the past performance of their school. After a major backlash, ministers had to announce a U-turn and issued new results based solely on teacher judgment instead.
When exams were scrapped again last year, an ‘alternative certification’ system was introduced which meant grades were awarded based on teachers’ judgment of performance in course work and assessment.
But concerns were still raised that a ‘quality assurance’ approach which meant education officers asked teachers to review provisional results if they were higher than the prior attainment level of their school was an ‘algorithm by the back door’.
Exams are going ahead again this year, but the revision support being provided to offset the impact of lost learning has been dismissed as ‘patronising’, while the Government fell far short of its promise to get a laptop or tablet to every child in some areas.
The attainment gap widened last year despite the SNP’s pledge to close it, while school head teachers have admitted that staff funded through the pupil equity fund (PEF) to focus on improving the attainment of pupils from deprived areas have instead needed to be diverted to ‘keeping the show on the road’.
While the Scottish Government has been criticised for its performance on schools during the pandemic, Scotland was sliding down the international rankings before Covid.
Programme for International Student Assessment statistics in 2019 showed Scotland plunged down global league tables. Performance in maths and science hit a record low.
TAX
THE SNP has sought to put the cost of living crisis at the heart of its campaign for the local elections.
But its decisions in recent years have seen families clobbered by extra taxes while a tax gap with the rest of the UK has widened.
Families have seen bills rocket since the SNP revamped bands and ended the council tax freeze in 2017 – but funding pressures on councils mean they have not seen the same increases in spending on services.
The average council tax bill per property has soared by an inflation-busting 24.2 per cent since 2016/17, from £997 to £1,238. Those living in homes in the higher bands have seen bills soar by much more than that. Day-to-day
spending by local authorities increased by just £15 per person in 2020/11, which is 0.7 per cent higher than the previous year and significantly below inflation.
In the same year, the average council tax bill increased by 4.5 per cent across Scotland.
More council tax rises came into force last month, with only Shetland opting to freeze rates.
Increases varied from 1.95 per cent in Inverclyde to 4 per cent in Falkirk, with 22 councils opting for a 3 per cent rise.
Water charges, which families pay through their council tax bills, have also soared. A 4.2 per cent rise was agreed for 2022/23 but Scottish Water is threatening to hike its bills by 3 per cent above inflation next year.
Based on current inflation forecasts, that could mean an 11 per cent rise which would add £53 to the average £478 annual water bill. Those in the largest Band H properties in Scotland would face a £105 increase to their current £957 bill.
While Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced plans to cut the basic rate of income tax by 1p in 2034, the SNP Government has refused to follow the move.
All Scottish taxpayers earning more than £27,850 already pay the highest taxes in the UK, but the divide would now substantially widen unless the SNP act.
Currently, Scots on a £45,000 salary pay £439 more than people earning the same in England, rising to £1,489 for people on £50,000, £2,043 at £100,000 and £3,169 at £200,000.
FERRIES
THE ferries fiasco has dominated the Scottish political headlines for weeks and could have an impact on voting both nationally and in council areas most directly impacted, including North Ayrshire, the Western Isles, Argyll and Bute, and Inverclyde. The two CalMac ferries being built at the nationalised Ferguson shipyard in Port Glasgow have been beset by major delays and cost overruns.
MV Glen Sannox, which will connect Arran to the mainland, was initially scheduled to begin operating in 2018 but is now due to go into service between March and May 2023. The second vessel, known as Hull 802, is due to start operating between October and December 2023.
The delays have added pressure to the entire CalMac ferries fleet, and contributed to many passengers enduring a rising number of delays and cancellations.
But SNP ministers have also faced intense scrutiny over their own decision-making, including Nicola Sturgeon’s failure to order a full mediation process during a dispute between Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited (FMEL) and the Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) quango, which led to the collapse into administration of the private operator of the shipyard.
Much of the recent focus has centred on why the original contract was awarded to FMEL, even though CMAL had raised serious concerns about the lack of a full refund guarantee, and why a key document setting out the reasons for the award is now missing.
BIN COLLECTIONS AND STREET CLEANING
WITH councils fighting increasing financial pressures amid a funding squeeze, residents in many areas have seen the standards of basic services like bin collections plummet. One of the possible consequences of this has been a spate of rat sightings in Scotland’s biggest city.
Figures released by SNP-run Glasgow City Council following a freedom of information request show there were 6,656 reports made of rat sightings in the ten months to the end of October last year, which was 21.9 a day.
It compares to 20.3 reports a day in the whole of the previous year and 16.9 a day in 2018.
Figures released earlier this week also show spending on street cleaning has plummeted by 39 per cent across Scotland in the last ten years, with cuts amounting to an astonishing £322million.
There has also been a rise in complaints of flytipping, including reports of mountains of waste dumped under a motorway flyover in Glasgow just weeks before it was due to host the Cop26 climate change summit last October.
Last year it emerged illegal waste dumping in Scotland was costing the taxpayer more than £53million a year, with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency warning that criminals are moving into the rubbish collection business.
ROADS AND TRANSPORT
SCOTLAND’S major roads have become plagued by potholes in recent years.
In 2020/21, 20,988 potholes were ‘reported or identified’ on trunk roads in 2020/21, which was more than five times higher than the 3,981 total in 2007/08, the year the SNP came to power.
The car remains the dominant form of transport in Scotland but the SNP, at a national and local level, has been accused of a series of ‘anti-driver’ policies, including proposals for a workplace parking levy and the introduction of low emission zones and congestion charging.
Hard-pressed drivers face being hit by the workplace parking levy, toll roads and a ‘commuter tax’ as part of new green measures in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Edinburgh SNP’s manifesto for the election calls for a ‘commuter charging zone at the city boundary to discourage those living outwith the city from driving in, encouraging them to switch to bus, tram, train, foot or cycle’.
In Glasgow, the SNP is committed to looking at road tolls and a commuter tax, with its local manifesto pledging to ‘review options around roaduser charging and atcity-boundary congestion charging models’.
The local party also wants to ‘develop a business case for consideration on workplace parking licensing’.
The SNP Government bought the loss-making Prestwick Airport for £1 in 2013 but has had to prop it up with £43.4million of loans and £1.2million a year of written-off interest payments – and it has failed to find a buyer to offload it to the private sector.
Last month, ScotRail was also taken into public hands and train drivers are already threatening the most extensive rail strike in 20 years. Ministers have also been criticised for failing to restore services to pre-pandemic levels, despite the lifting of the last Covid restrictions, or to block planned ticket office closures.
CRIME
SCOTLAND is in the grip of a growing crime wave, as ministers come under fire for soft touch justice policies and pressure on Police Scotland grows.
Figures comparing February this year to the same month last year show that non-sexual crimes of violence have risen by 18 per cent, while sexual crimes are up by a quarter and rape reports rose by nearly a third.
Overall, the number of crimes has increased by 8 per cent while attempted murder and serious
assault increased by 34 per cent. The SNP Government has already introduced a presumption against short prison sentences of 12 months or less, and it is considering reforms which would mean those serving sentences of four years or less could be eligible for early release after just a third of their sentence. Those on longer sentences could get parole board hearings to consider their release after serving the same period.
As crime increases, figures yesterday also showed the number of police officers declined by 479 in the last year.
HEALTH
THE NHs has come under intense pres sure during the pandemic. But as the vaccine has a major impact on the number of people getting severely ill from Covid, ministers have been criticised for the slow pace of the NHs recovery - with the Health secretary, Humza Yousaf, warning it could take years. The latest figures show 22,000 routine planned operations in March 2022, which was the highest number since the start of the pandemic but it still remains far below the 27,645 in February 2020.
The scottish Government target is for 95 per cent of patients to be admitted, transferred or discharged from A&E within four hours.
But the latest figures showed 71.6 per cent of attendances at A&E services were seen within four hours, the lowest monthly figure for that measurement so far.