The SNP’s record in government has today been exposed in a series of damning revelations:

Audit Scotland, the independent public sector watchdog, has highlighted the staffing crisis in our NHS. This is the direct result of Nicola Sturgeon’s decisions when she was Health Secretary. Labour has been warning about this for months, and has created a workforce commission to address the challenges.

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Education Secretary John Swinney’s team of international experts quietly sneaked out a paper-thin report, after spending tens of thousands of pounds flying them to Scotland. They point out that capacity in the education system is the key to improving our schools – no wonder when you consider that 4,000 teachers have been lost under the SNP.

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And new data has revealed that thousands of apprentices in Scotland are being paid less than the National Minimum Wage. A total of 14 per cent of apprentices across the country get less than £5.55 per hour – while 2.2 percent are earning less than £2.67 per hour. The SNP government should not certify Modern Apprenticeships if they are found to be paying less than the National Minimum Wage.

Read more here

The SNP government is failing. It’s time for a country run for the many, not the few. Join our movement here

SNP NHS MISMANAGEMENT REVEALED

A damning Audit Scotland report has revealed the scale of the SNP’s mismanagement of our NHS.

The report details the SNP staffing crisis in our health service, which began under Nicola Sturgeon when she was Health Secretary.

It states:

• There has been a 107 per cent increase in agency spending from 2011/12 to 2016/17 – from £82.8 million to £171.4 million.
• One in three NHS staff are now over the age of 50.
• There is a 4.5 per cent vacancy rate among nurses and midwifes – up from 1.8 per cent in 2011/12.
• There is a 7.4 per cent vacancy rate among consultants – up from 3.6 per cent in 2011/12.

This report reinforces our warnings that the SNP has presided over a workforce crisis in our NHS, leaving staff over-worked, under-valued and under-resourced.

Staff morale is at rock bottom in the health service, with staff reporting there simply aren’t enough of them to do the job properly.

As Audit Scotland confirms, this is part of the legacy left by Nicola Sturgeon who as Health Secretary slashed the number of training places for nurses and midwives.

Scotland now has a Health Secretary, Shona Robison, who is out of her depth and out of ideas. That is why our health service is in desperate need for a meaningful workforce plan.

We have established a workforce commission that will bring together professionals from across the NHS, representing different sectors, who will together examine the underlying causes for this staffing crisis and develop a strategy to tackle it.

You can read more about our workforce commission here

Read the Audit Scotland report here

We need a government that will fix the problems in our NHS. Agree? Join the Labour Party here

Thousands of apprentices in Scotland are being paid less than the National Minimum Wage.

A total of 14 per cent of apprentices across the country get less than £5.55 per hour – while 2.2 percent are earning less than £2.67 per hour.

Low pay is particularly endemic in certain professions, with 42 per cent of hairdressing apprentices earning less than the minimum wage.

We have called on the SNP government to not certify Modern Apprenticeships through Skills Development Scotland if they are found to be paying less than the National Minimum Wage.

The National Union of Students Scotland has also raised concerns about the issue.

The call is part of our summer campaign, For The Many, which this week is focusing on improving the lives of the next generation of Scots.

The number of childcare providers has fallen to the lowest level on record, despite the SNP promising a ‘revolution’ in childcare.

New figures reveal the number of childcare providers is down by almost 1,000 since 2008. The fall includes a reduction in the number of childminders, with almost 400 lost in the last 18 months.

A total of 9,282 childcare providers in March 2017, including nursery staff, is the lowest number on record.

The figures make a mockery of the SNP’s promised ‘revolution’ in childcare.

The findings are part of our summer campaign, For The Many, which this week will focus on the next generation of Scots.

We have so far focused on the economy, unveiling an industrial strategy, the cost of living, which included a five-point plan to tackle working poverty, and the NHS, with the establishment of a workforce commission.

We want to see a flexible childcare system, with a breakfast club in every primary school and a legal guarantee of flexible childcare for working parents.

You can read more about our plans for a Scotland that works for the many, not the few, in our manifesto: http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/page/-/Manifesto%202017.pdf

Scottish Labour has today called for a ban on zero hours contracts after research revealed that staff earn a third less than workers on the average wage.
The median pay for a zero-hours workers is just £7.49-an-hour compared with £12.17-an-hour for all employees in Scotland, a difference of £4.68.
In Scotland, 467,000 workers earn less than the living wage and 57,000 are on zero-hours contracts.
Labour would ban zero hour contracts and introduce a Real Living Wage of £10-an-hour by 2020.

Shadow Scotland Office Minister, Paul Sweeney said:
“These figures demonstrate the stark reality of life on a zero-hours contract.
“A symbol of the failure of the Tories’ economic plan is the proliferation of zero hour contracts, which has helped fuel the low-wage, low-skill economy that is letting down working people and letting down Britain.
“And the SNP government in Scotland has more power over economic development that any previous Scottish Government, but its record on good quality job creation simply has not been good enough. That's because the Nationalists have simply passed on Tory cuts rather than invest in our economy for growth.
“Our country only succeeds when working people succeed. Labour would ban zero hours contracts – so that every worker gets a guaranteed number of hours each week.
“Our government-in-waiting in Westminster has a manifesto that would build an economy across the UK for the many not the few.”