The SNP are “miles off target” on delivering promises from the ‘first 100 days plan’ they published during the Scottish Parliament election, according to Scottish Conservative analysis.
With less than two weeks to go until the target date, the SNP have failed to meet key pledges on health, education, the environment and farming support.
Key promises on healthcare have not been met including:
- Publishing an NHS Recovery Plan
- Launching a Scottish Covid inquiry
- Producing a Women’s Health Plan
- Vaccinating all adults
The Scottish Conservatives said it once again demonstrated that the SNP “just don’t deliver” and criticised Humza Yousaf for numerous delays on healthcare pledges.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health, Annie Wells MSP, said: “It’s clear the SNP are miles off target on meeting the pledges in their 100 days document.
“Once again, there’s an enormous gap between what the SNP say and what they do. They can talk a good game but they just don’t deliver. This looks like another set of broken promises in the making.
“Their failures will have damaging knock-on consequences for our NHS and people across the country.
“The delay to publishing an NHS Recovery Plan is inexcusable. That should have been one of the SNP Government’s top priorities.
“It’s apparent that most of the inaction and missed targets are down to Humza Yousaf’s lousy performance as Health Secretary. So far his most notable action is misleading parents about Covid rates in children.
“Instead of focusing on meeting these pledges, the SNP broke their promise to set indyref2 aside and prioritise Scotland’s recovery. Just this week, we heard they are shamelessly planning to ramp up their push for another referendum at their party conference. It’s more of the same from this distracted, divisive SNP Government.”
Notes
Here is a list of key pledges that have not been delivered from the SNP 100 days plan:
The SNP have failed to publish an NHS Recovery Plan. Within their first 100 days they pledged to, ‘publish an NHS Recovery plan to meet our ambition of increasing inpatient, daycase, and outpatient activity by 10%’. However, only additional funding for set areas has been announced so far with no set plan published. (SNP, First Steps, 29 April 2021, link; Scottish Government, 11 July 2021, link).
The SNP have not produced a Women’s Health Plan. Within their first 100 days they pledged to, ‘publish the recommendations of the Women’s Health taskforce and produce a Women’s Health Implementation plan’. A debate on women’s health was held on 15 June, however the motion only made reference to the SNP publishing, ‘a Women's Health Plan within the first 100 days of the current parliamentary session’, no plan has been published as of yet. (SNP, First Steps, 29 April 2021, link; Scottish Parliament, Motions, 15 June 2021, link).
The SNP are not on target to vaccinate all adults. Within their first 100 days they pledged to complete ‘the vaccination of all adults, subject to supply’. However, the most recent figures show that the only 73.8 per cent of the population have had two doses of the vaccine. If the current daily rate of around 17,000 doses continues the SNP will miss the 12 September target by over 500,000. (SNP, First Steps, 29 April 2021, link; Public Health Scotland, Vaccinations Data, 6 August 2021, link).
The SNP failed to remove unnecessary elements of Coronavirus legislation. The SNP promised they would ‘replace the current coronavirus legislation - removing parts and powers which are no longer necessary, whilst ensuring we can manage any upsurge in the virus.’ However, many unnecessary elements remain within the new legislation, such as the ability for Scottish Ministers to release prisoners early. (SNP, First Steps, 29 April 2021, link; Scottish Parliament, Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Bill, 18 June 2021, link).
The SNP have not established a Standing Committee on Pandemics or set a date for a Covid-19 Public Inquiry. The COVID framework presented to Parliament on 22 June stated: ‘To ensure that we best prepare for future public health emergencies, we will establish a Standing Committee on Pandemic Preparedness later this summer. We have also committed to establishing a statutory public inquiry into Scotland's COVID-19 response as soon as possible and, in addition, will work cooperatively as far as possible on any UK-wide public inquiry’. However, the SNP’s most recent comment on a public inquiry only mentions, ‘We remain committed to a public inquiry that will begin work this year…Following the UK government’s decision to follow us in committing to a full UK-wide public inquiry, we have been considering how its remit might cover issues relevant to Scotland. When we have a greater sense of that remit, we will make a judgment on the extent to which the UK-wide inquiry will cover Scottish-specific issues’. (SNP, First Steps, 29 April 2021, link; Scottish Government, Coronavirus (COVID-19): Scotland's Strategic Framework update - June 2021, 22 June 2021, link; The Times, 2 August 2021, link).
The SNP pledged to deliver ‘fair results’ for pupils within their first 100 days, but have failed to address several issues with this year’s awards. A report by Education Scotland revealed that schools’ prior attainment is being used by local authorities to moderate teachers’ estimated grades, and the SQA have confirmed that pupils who appeal their results risk seeing their grades go down as well as up. (SNP, First Steps, 29 April 2021, link; TES, 2 June 2021, link; BBC, 2 June 2021, link).
The SNP pledged to ‘begin the planning for provision of tablets and laptops to all schoolchildren’, but have not confirmed any further progress towards this manifesto pledge. Earlier this year, Education Scotland concluded that the provision of laptops across the country was inadequate when schools were closed, but as of 26 July 2021 the SNP have still not outlined how they plan to rollout free devices to all schoolchildren (SNP, First Steps, 29 April 2021, link; Education Scotland, National overview of practice in remote learning: 6, 19 February 2021, link).
The SNP pledged to fund councils to increase teacher numbers by 1,000 within their first 100 days, but they have not met this target and there is an emerging teacher recruitment crisis. Since the election on 6 May, a campaign group has formed consisting of over 2,000 teachers who are unable to find permanent teaching contracts due to a lack of new vacancies being funded across the country. And a document published by the SNP Government on 28 July indicated that substantially fewer than 1,000 new teachers have been recruited across Scotland. (SNP, First Steps, 29 April 2021, link; TES, 7 June 2021, link; Scottish Government, 28 July 2021, link)
The SNP pledged to agree funding allocations to local councils as part of their play park renewal fund, but as of the beginning of August, there had been no further announcements. The SNP’s ‘First Steps’ document said the SNP Government would ‘agree the first allocation of funding to councils for the refurbishment of play parks.’ But as of 4 August there had been no further announcements about funding.’ (SNP, First Steps, 29 April 2021, link)
The SNP pledged to appoint ‘Environmental Champions’ within their first 100 days of government, but have yet to announce any such appointments. A document published by the SNP Government on 23 July said that such appointments were yet to be made: ‘The group of senior Environmental Champions to be appointed by the Scottish government before COP26 will help inform, advise and guide Scottish action to addressing the twin crises of biodiversity and climate.’ (SNP, First Steps, pg. 8, 29 April 2021, link; Scottish Government, Scotland's contribution to the Paris Agreement: indicative Nationally Determined Contribution, 23 July 2021, p.7, link)
The SNP pledged to establish an ‘integrated implementation board’, to develop proposals for sustainable farming support, but have yet to establish such group as of 4 August. (SNP, First Steps, pg. 8, 29 April 2021, link; Press and Journal, 21 July 2021, link).
The SNP pledged to appoint a commission to take forward a review of land based education, but as of 4 August, no such body has been appointed. (SNP, First Steps, pg. 8, 29 April 2021, link)
The SNP pledged to announce the locations of Scotland’s first low-carbon ‘vertical farms’ within their first 100 days of government, no such locations have been announced as of 4 August. (SNP, First Steps, pg. 8, 29 April 2021, link; Press and Journal, 21 July 2021, link).
The SNP pledged to establish pilot projects to deliver free bikes to children who need them within their first 100 days of government, but as of 26 July the SNP have not announced any such pilot projects (SNP, First Steps, pg. 8, 29 April 2021, link; Press and Journal, 21 July 2021, link).