NICOLA Sturgeon has insisted that the SNP is committed to “more powers” being handed to local governments in the next parliament.

But Tory leader Douglas Ross has claimed the SNP’s relationship with councils has been “one of the greatest failures” of Ms Sturgeon’s government.

The First Minister spoke at the Cosla conference where she gave a “sincere, heartfelt thank you” to council workers for their efforts during the pandemic.

She added that if the SNP is returned to power in May, her party will “kickstart a recovery that will shape out society for decades to come”.

Ms Sturgeon said that setting up a new National Care Service will be one of the first acts her government takes if the SNP is re-elected to power.

She also pledged her party would abolish charges for non-residential care, so that the “right to independent living” can be “afforded to all”.

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She said: “In these dark times our frontline health and social care staff have left us again in awe with their dedication and their professionalism, even in the most trying of circumstances.“To deliver the best possible care – in every part of Scotland – we must collectively be really bold.

“That’s why, if re-elected, one of our first acts will be to take the first formal steps to create a National Care Service.”

She insisted: “Delivering a National Care Service will make a real difference both to those who receive care, but also to those who care for them with such dedication.”

The SNP is promising a “National Wage for carers, to ensure that the value of the wages of our social care workforce better reflects the value of the work that they do”.

Ms Sturgeon continued: “And we will abolish charges for non-residential care – easing the financial pressures on people accessing care and helping them to realise the right to independent living that should be afforded to all.”

She accepted this was an “ambitious agenda” but added: “With open minds and with a spirit of genuine collaboration, I know that we can achieve something which will fundamentally transform the way we care for those who need it most.

“And in doing so, we will properly recognise the value of care, and the role women in particular play in delivering care at all levels of our society.”

The First Minister also highlighted her commitment to transform how local government is financed.

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Ms Sturgeon added: “Even before the pandemic, we were engaging with you in work to renew how Scotland is governed.

“Through the local governance review, both local and national government have come together in form agreement that more power should be exercised locally.

"That process must continue into the next parliament.

“When I read your own blueprint for local government, I see much that chimes with the vision of the SNP for the next few years and beyond.”

Ms Sturgeon also set out her party’s housing plans including proposals to build 100,000 homes in the next decade. The SNP has committed £3.4 billion of investment in the next parliamentary term, which the First Minister said will create as many as 14,000 jobs a year.

Ms Sturgeon said the scheme will be a “huge investment in jobs, in homes and in better communities”.

But Mr Ross has pointed to his party’s plans to ringfence a proportion of the funding the Scottish Government received from Westminster for councils to ensure greater funding for local authorities.

He said: “One of the greatest failures of the SNP Government is to undermine the efforts of local authorities by asking them to deliver more with less resources.

“After 14 years of the SNP being in power, I think people question now what can they believe from the SNP.

"They promised to reform council tax at the last three elections and it’s never happened. They’ve promised to support councils – but they never do when they’re in power.

“That’s why we’re making a clear, unambiguous pledge to support local government, to support local communities and take power away from the Scottish Government since it’s been hoarded there for the last 14 years by the SNP.”

Earlier at the Cosla conference, the organisation’s president, Alison Evison, warned that “all that is preventing us from solving some of the problems facing our communities” is the “powers and appropriate level of resources” being given to councils.