Labour's achievements for Scotland
Labour delivered the Scottish Parliament for the people of Scotland. For the first eight years, we formed the government.
Now we are in opposition, we know that the SNP are just not doing enough to help people through these difficult times. Even from opposition we have forced the SNP to:
- provide 8,000 extra apprentices next year
- adopt almost all of our 15-point economic plan
- guarantee that apprentices can continue their training elsewhere if their firm lays them off
- provide extra help for people facing redundancy
- spend £60 million to regenerate our town centre
- give legal protection for disabled parking bays
We want the SNP government to work together with the Labour Government to do what's right for Scotland.
1999 - 2007
In the early years of the Scottish Parliament, we are proud of the steps we took to make Scotland a better place to live. Labour delivered for all Scots - whether it was giving young people the opportunity to participate in high quality volunteering projects through Project Scotland or free national bus travel scheme for all older people across Scotland.
On the economy
- We delivered a strong and stable economy with more people in work, low inflation and low mortgage rates
- We created over 34,000 apprentices
- We lifted 100,000 children in Scotland out of poverty
On education
- We guaranteed a free part-time early years place for every three and four year old to parent who needed one
- We invested £1 billion to rebuild or refurbish schools – more than 120 schools already rebuilt or refurbished and ensured there are nearly 2,000 more teachers in Scotland’s schools since 1997
- We abolished up front tuition fees and introduced bursaries for poorer students. There are more young people going on to further study today than ever before
On health
- We doubled investment in the NHS - improving healthcare across Scotland
- We banned smoking in enclosed public spaces – a historic step which is ensuring a smoke free environment and helping reduce deaths from passive smoking
- We introduced free eye checks for allWe delivered free nursing and personal care for older people – benefiting 75,000 Scots.
On tackling crime and anti-social behaviour
- We delivered on manifesto promises to tackle anti-social behaviour and introduced ASBOs to tackle anti-social behaviour in our
- communities, new powers to disperse groups and Parental Orders to make parents accept responsibility for their children
- We created the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency and established new powers to seize the assets of drug dealers
- We brought forward a five point action plan on knife crime including doubling the maximum penalty for carrying a knife in public from two to four years.
These are just some of the achievements making a real difference to the lives of thousands of Scots. We are proud of these achievements but we are not satisfied. We know there is more to do.