Regeneration Across the Political Spectrum: 2026 Manifesto Analysis

Introduction

In the run-up to the 2026 Scottish elections, we’ve seen political manifestos from all major parties. Having now had the time to review key policy proposals and commitments from the six main parties, SURF have done an analysis of what these manifestos mean for regeneration and our core asks for the next parliament, along with some key themes from our annual SURF awards.

We’ve analysed each of the manifestos based on the below:

• Affordable Housing
• Local Democracy – especially community councils
• Fair Funding
• Public Transport
• Employability
• Creative Regeneration
• Community / other regeneration

A breakdown of headline policies is provided in the table at the bottom of this blog, but we’ve summarised a few key points below.

A note on spending

A great series of blogs from the Fraser of Allander Institute analysing the spending proposals in each of the manifestos suggests that none of the parties truly have fully costed proposals. To varying degrees, it remains unknown if or how manifestos will survive contact with reality, especially given the current financial constraints, with questions around what spending will be cut, or how proposed efficiencies will be made. An example includes the commitments from Reform, Scottish Labour, and the Scottish Conservatives around quangos and the claimed impact that will have, with the Fraser of Allander Institute stating that the top-level bills for many quangos ‘represent spending on actual delivery of services – not simply administration.’ These much-touted efforts at efficiency seem less about efficiencies themselves (detail on which quangos, how, and why is always sparse) than the public perception surrounding possible government waste – a perennial issue for voters come election time.

On the spending side, there are a host of policies across the spectrum which raise eyebrows, from tax cuts (Reform and the Scottish Conservatives) to expensive and far-reaching policies such as housing (for all parties), and free buses for all (for the Greens). Although many of the political commitments to new affordable housing shortages would, it seems, go some way to addressing current shortages, the amounts needed to deliver such targets far outweigh the fiscal headroom that any incoming Scottish has to play with. In short, even with significant cuts, the targets seem unachievable, as encouraging as they are. All parties mention planning reform and efficiencies but it remains to be seen whether housebuilding plans – even if they were affordable – can be operationalised in such a short-time scale given the way the system works currently.

Affordable Housing

Although uncertainty remains about how housebuilding will be financed and / or stimulated, there does seem to be cross-party consensus that significant investment is needed. All parties mention significant housebuilding programmes, with affordable housing always front and centre. Put simply, if any of the touted targets (from any of the six parties) are actually met, Scotland will have taken considerable strides towards addressing the housing crisis.

Additionally, the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Scottish Labour commitments to further supporting and strengthening the use of Rural Housing Burdens chime well with SURF’s call for a more equitable use of existing housing, especially in rural and island areas where housing assets disproportionately end up as second homes or holiday lets. Beyond that, there are no policies which explicitly put more power in the hands of local communities – and especially community councils – to decide where and how housing assets are used. The Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Greens mention expanding acquisitions budgets, with the Scottish Greens proposing a right to buy-back former council properties that were sold off under Right to Buy – which might help bring boost existing stock in the short-term. The Scottish Greens also commit to further supporting community led housing developments in future.

Local Democracy

Bold commitments around further empowering community councils are unfortunately lacking across all manifestos, although the Scottish Greens perhaps go further than the rest in this regard, proposing a few policies which begin to address some of SURF’s key recommendations. This includes, notably, supporting communities to develop LPPs where none exist (whether this equates to more funding is unclear), the use of citizen assemblies in public decision-making, and the creation of a decentralised Design Academy for Communities to provide ‘skills in facilitation, planning and democratic process design.’ There is also a broad intent to strengthen grassroots democracy, but it is unclear to what extent further citizen participation and decision making will take place solely through participatory budgeting – or other democratic avenues, such as community councils. But they do make reference to Democracy Matters which they see as ‘culminating in primary legislation to embed local democracy by default.’

It is worth also mentioning the Scottish Liberal Democrat plans to enable communities to ‘establish a burgh or island council to serve their area, established by a charter defining its functions, to give a truly local democratic focus to services.’ Although no further detail is provided, along with questions around a potential overlap with existing community council structures, this policy runs parallel to some of SURF’s proposals around local democracy.

Again, there are some mentions of planning, such as a community right of appeal where decisions diverge from agreed plans (Scottish Greens) and stopping ministers from being able to overrule planning decisions made by local people (Scottish Conservatives). Lastly, Scottish Labour do present plans for a new Local Democracy Act which would give people more of a say on regional services. There is clearly an intent from several parties to put more power and resources into local hands, but how that might work remains to be seen.

Fair Funding

Positively, there are references to a much-discussed new deal for the Third Sector by Labour and the SNP – although details of what such an agreement entails are sparse. This could ostensibly mirror a similar agreement in Wales. Although the agreement in Wales has not eradicated all issues, it provides a useful forum for engagement and a degree of accountability.

Multi-year funding is mentioned by the SNP, the Scottish Greens, and Scottish Labour – which is positive and a key focus in SURF’s manifesto. Although not explicitly referenced by Reform and the Scottish Conservatives, the absence of specific funding and / or deals for the third sector seems to reflect a focus of both parties on cutting spend across government – which would likely also affect third sector organisations and funding pots for communities.

Public Transport

Regarding public transport investment, it is worth flagging significant commitments from Scottish Labour – around franchising, municipalisation, and integrated ticketing – but also the Scottish Greens, with an eye-catching pledge for free bus travel for everyone in Scotland. Although this will, of course, significantly address transport poverty, the roll-out or expansion of subsidised or free bus travel may ultimately come at the cost of further improving or adding services, especially in currently under-served areas. This raises the key question of coverage and service quality vs. affordability, a dichotomy SURF would ideally see addressed jointly. Although the Scottish Greens highlight a minimum service guarantee for bus routes in rural areas, along with Local Authority investments in bus priority lanes and infrastructure, it remains to be seen how much can be invested in improving services once bus travel is made free for all. Although the full roll-out of concessionary travel is presented in stages (with a £2 bus fare cap happening immediately, and concessionary travel extended to the under 30), it will still be a significant cost, especially given the substantial housing commitments also made – another area requiring huge amounts of funding – and the ringfencing of 10% of the transport budget for active travel.

Both the SNP and the Scottish Greens are committed to a fare cap – one of SURF’s calls in its recently published Manifesto for Regeneration. The Scottish Conservatives propose a Small Town and Rural Bus Services Bus, where Reform focus on bus corridors in major cities. All parties except the Scottish Greens have specific policies around improving broadband and fibre rollouts across Scotland – a SURF manifesto ask which closely overlaps wider transport infrastructure.

Final Regeneration Roundup

A few other points worth highlighting include cross-party commitments to employability support. Both Reform and the Scottish Liberal Democrats propose a new skills strategy, the Scottish Greens propose a New Deal for Apprenticeships and the SNP, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, and Scottish Labour are all committed to further expanding apprenticeships.  The Scottish Conservatives explicitly mention poverty in their employability support, as they seek to ‘Invest in employability schemes to support the disabled and those living in poverty.’

Both the Scottish Greens and the SNP are committed to increasing the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) fund – with the SNP seeking to expand it to 15 million. SURF noted during this year’s Scottish Budget that CARES funding was falling – with that set to continue over the spending review. How this manifesto commitment chimes with the pre-existing direction of travel is unclear, but SURF would welcome the expansion of this important community fund.

The Scottish Conservatives propose further funding for Scottish Men’s Sheds – a recent SURF Award winner – to support men’s wellbeing. It is positive to see the recognition that Scottish Men’s Sheds are receiving on both a local and national scale.

In terms of Creative Regeneration, the Scottish Greens and the Scottish Liberal Democrats are explicitly (re)committing to multi-year funding. Scottish Labour, meanwhile, mention the reform of Creative Scotland to improve transparency and ensure more funding goes directly to Scottish artists, and also has plans for a creative capital fund for venues across Scotland. The SNP have pledged an additional £100 million annually for the culture sector by 2028-2029, and have plans for a Scottish Artists Minimum Income based on the much-praised Irish model.

Conclusion: Promises vs Signals

It should be pointed out that there is an imbalance when it comes to the promises that are – and can be – made by political parties in Scotland. To an extent, the SNP – currently leading in the polls – will always be hamstrung by its record, with voters able to judge performance based on manifesto pledges. For the other parties – all unlikely to form a government, except for perhaps the Scottish Greens in coalition with the SNP – pledges can be stretched and expanded to become more ambitious and eye-catching in the knowledge that they will not be held accountable over a failure to implement them. Even the Greens’ pledge for free buses is something that they themselves will likely admit represents more of a direction of travel, rather than a concrete objective on which voters can usefully draw conclusions after the next parliament.

The big question, as ever, will be how ambitious targets and policies – around housing, for example – will be realised, and how they will be funded. Manifestos generally shy away from such operational matters, and there is little detail about what, importantly, will therefore need to be deprioritised. It is clear that any incoming government – no matter what party affiliation – will have difficult choices to make to deliver on what they set out in their manifestos.

Below is a summary table of headline policies across the various manifestos. You can use your keyboard arrows / scrollbar (or scroll left and right on a mobile) to move between the six parties.

A PDF version of this table is also available here.