Nicola Sturgeon to pitch SNP's 'serious leadership' atslocal election manifesto launched

The First Minister is set to attack the UK Government for what she claims is a failure to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, warning it has been “years in the making” – insisting that grown-up leadership from the SNP is required.

The SNP leader will praise the efforts from communities in responding to the pressures on families struggling with the cost-of-living crisis – comparing the situation with the reaction to the pandemic.

The national SNP manifesto will outline key priorities for local government including protecting the council tax reduction scheme, improving the energy efficiency of homes and delivering a new parental transition fund that will attempt to tackle the financial barriers parents face in entering the labour market.

The document will also address controversial plans to overhaul social care, currently delivered by local authorities, with proposals for a centralised National Care Service.

SNP councils will also pledge to provide more walking and cycling routes in local authority areas, provide funding to maintain pavements, pathways and routes that cyclists and pedestrians use, and draw up plans to deliver a Scottish Government commitment to reduce car journeys by 20 per cent by 2030.

Ms Sturgeon is expected to say: “Council elections are always important, but this one is particularly crucial.

“When I think about the last couple of years - of how we all pulled together in the face of huge uncertainty - I know that, by working together and with the right leadership, we can get through the challenges we are facing today and build a better tomorrow.

“What we need over the coming period is nothing less than a pandemic-level, ‘Team Scotland’ response to these challenges. "

Ms Sturgeon will insist that SNP-run councils "will have a razor focus on supporting families through the current cost of living crisis", blamed on the UK Government.

She will add: “And at all levels of government, it is only the SNP who have a plan to deliver that pandemic-level response.

“The key levers in this current crisis are in the hands of Westminster. And while the SNP have a plan to move Scotland forwards, the Tory plans - laid out in the chancellor’s spring statement – remind us how much Westminster is dragging Scotland back.

“Of course, this cost of living crisis didn’t just begin in the last few months. It has been years in the making - the result of catastrophic Westminster policy decisions.

“From the moment they took power, the Tories have been methodically chipping away at living standards and family incomes.

“We live in serious times, and in serious times what communities across Scotland need is serious leadership.

"That's what SNP councillors and SNP councils will deliver.”

Scottish Conservative shadow secretary for local government, Miles Briggs, said: "Nicola Sturgeon talks up a pandemic-level response but she completely ignores that we got through Covid thanks to the strength and security provided by the United Kingdom. 

"It was the UK furlough scheme that protected Scottish jobs and the UK vaccine scheme that protected the health of thousands of Scots." 

He added: "If Nicola Sturgeon wants to join 'Team Scotland', she can start by dropping her reckless plans to break up the country. 

"Only as part of a strong United Kingdom will we be able to rebuild our communities and deliver on local priorities like restoring schools, investing in roads, fixing potholes and improving local services. 

 "The SNP have a cheek claiming that their top priority is easing the cost of living crisis when they are set to clobber motorists with a triple whammy of tax rises."