This list was sent to us and is from this website. 

https://grousebeater.wordpress.com/2016/04/19/the-snps-achievements/

​

No government gets uncritical support especially one elected to govern a nation of hyper-judgmental, compulsive nit-pickers. We’re quicker to criticise than praise. 

​

Continually under attack by well-armed enemies of civil rights and democracy, I thought it fair to reproduce their achievements. We have an administration that has powers hobbled, deliberately so to keep control elsewhere, yet it has achieved a considerable amount never imagined by the rag-bag of opposition parties.

​

​

In the beginning

• Record funding for Scotland’s NHS, with the overall health budget at £13 billion in 2016 – over £3.3 billion more than when the SNP first took office.

• Free, high quality childcare is increased to 16 hours a week for all 3 and 4 year olds, up from 12.5 hours (2007) extended to 2 year olds from low income households too.

• Employment at its highest ever level. Latest figures, 2,636,000 people in work.

• Pupils are achieving more than ever with a reformed curriculum, record exam passes and 93% of school leavers now going on to work, training or education.

• Council Tax frozen saving the average Band D household £1,550 by April 2017.

• 1.3 million older and disabled people benefit from free public transport through the National Concessionary Bus Travel Scheme – now extended to help disabled veterans.

• Target to build 30,000 affordable homes exceeded – investment of £1.7 billion.

• Free tuition maintained, saving students up to £27,000 compared to England.

• Jobs and businesses protected from recession by cutting business rates for almost 100,000 small and medium-sized businesses.

• 78,000 elderly benefit from access to a wide range of personal care without charge.

• Recorded crime in Scotland has reached its lowest level in 41 years.

• Free prescriptions protected, those with chronic conditions save over £100 a year.

• Road Equivalent Tariff rolled out to all ferry routes in the Clyde and Hebrides, cutting fares by around 40%.

• 178,000 low income households helped to buy essentials such as nappies, food and cookers through our Scottish Welfare Fund since it was established in 2013.

• By keeping Scottish Water in public hands customers pay less for a better service – charges for the average household bill are £39 lower than in England and Wales. 

• ​

A healthier Scotland 

• Free prescriptions for all. (In England you pay £8.40 per item.)

• The number of nurses, doctors and dentists working in Scotland’s NHS increased.

• NHS staffing is at record levels, up more than 11,500 under the current government.

• Scotland’s A&E services are the best performing in the UK.

• 95% of hospital day case and inpatients seen within 12 weeks last year.

• Healthcare kept local. A&E units saved, children’s cancer services and neurosurgery units protected, and maternity units kept open.

• Over £5 billion invested in Scotland’s health infrastructure since 2007, including the South Glasgow Hospitals and Emergency Care Centre in Aberdeen.

• Pay rises for our NHS staff delivered.

• Nursing staff up to £714 a year better off than their counterparts in England.

• Hospitals cleaner and safer. Cases of C. Diff and MRSA fall to lowest levels recorded.

• Almost £40 million to raise public awareness of cancer, and catch it earlier.

• Risk of cervical cancer cut by providing HPV vaccine for girls in 2nd year of school.

• Scrapped parking charges at NHS-run hospital. Patients and staff save £25 million.

• Highest number of GPs per head of the population in the UK; more practices are now open in the evenings and at weekends.

• Scotland first country in the UK to have a mental health waiting times target.

• Over £150 million invested next five years to improve mental health services.

• 2.2 million more folk registered with an NHS dentist than when the SNP took office.

• 98% of primary and secondary schools providing two hours of physical education a week – up from 10 per cent in 2005.

• More funding provided to support carers and young carers; over 22,500 benefiting from the Short Breaks Fund.

• Irresponsible alcohol discounts in supermarkets and off-licences banned.

• Legal age for buying tobacco raised to 18.

• Control of social care services budget through the Self-Directed Support Act.

• Extra funding for Scotland’s veteran charities, ex-service men and women receive priority treatment in the NHS and other services.

• Free childcare increased to 16 hours a week (from 12.5) for 3 and 4 year-olds. Also extended to 2 year-olds of low-income families.

• Patient satisfaction levels are second-to-none.

• £3.3 billion more given to our health system that when the SNP took office.

• We’ve banned smoking in any vehicle carrying anyone under 18.

• Everyone who uses social care services can now control their individual care budget through the Self-directed Support Act.

• We’ve provided extra funding for Scotland’s veteran charities, and ensured our ex-service men and women receive priority treatment in the NHS and other services.

• ​

A smarter Scotland 

• All children in primaries 1 to 3 – around 135,000 pupils – benefiting from free school meals, saving families around £380 per child per year.

• The £160 million Attainment Scotland Fund improves literacy, numeracy and health and well-being for children in over 300 primary schools in deprived areas.

• Spending per pupil is significantly higher here than south of the border – 9% higher per pupil in primary at £4,899, 12% higher per pupil in secondary at £6,738.

• Investment of £1.8 billion and 607 school projects delivered.

• 4,020 school children able to learn in dedicated Gaelic medium language classes.

• The Disabled Students Allowance in Scotland protected and bursaries for students maintained, while the Tories abolished both elsewhere in the UK.

• Education Maintenance Allowance in Scotland  expanded– scrapped in England – to support 57,000 school pupils and college students from low income families.

• Over 119,000 full-time equivalent college places provided – exceeding 2011 manifesto commitment to maintain 116,000 places.

• £530 million invested in college estates and state-of-the-art buildings in Glasgow, Kilmarnock and Inverness – plus £140 million for Fife and Forth Valley colleges.

• Full-time college students benefit from the highest bursary of anywhere in the UK.

• A record numbers of Scots supported into university. Young people from deprived areas more likely to study at university.

• The poorest university students living at home benefit from a minimum income guarantee of £7,625 per year – the highest in the UK.

• More women entering universities are choosing to study science, technology, engineering and maths subjects. They make up 48% of those gaining degrees.

• Free tuition protected saving students £27,750 compared to England.

• A 3-D printer given to every library in Scotland.

• Head teachers given greater control of their schools – a large diversion of power to people welcome by teachers and parents.

• Since 2007, number of female entrants in STEM subjects at Scottish universities increase by 26 per cent in first degree courses, 47 per cent in postgraduate courses.

• Invested over £550 million in college estates between 2007 and 2015, £250 million more than the previous Labour/Lib Dem administrations.

• Supporting £300 million of investment to deliver new campuses at City of Glasgow, Inverness and Ayrshire Colleges. And Forth Valley and Fife Colleges will share £140 million for new campuses too.

• ​

A wealthier Scotland

• Scotland has the highest employment rate of the four nations in the UK, women and youth employment rates exceed those of the UK.

• Typical pay in Scotland is now, for the first time, higher than in England.

• Scottish economy has seen three years of growth up to the third quarter of 2015.

• 186,855 young people took the opportunity to undertake a modern apprenticeship since 2007, and by 2020 a further 30,000 opportunities will be available every year.

• Around 22,000 families supported to buy their own home through home ownership schemes – three quarters of them under the age of 35.

• Councils enabled to build new homes– 5,292 council houses built since 2011.

• 15,500 social houses for rent safeguarded by ending Right to Buy.

• £500 million invested to stimulate conomic growth in Glasgow and the Clyde Valley.

• £125 million allocated to Aberdeen to stimulate economic growth in the city, plus an additional £254 million for infrastructure projects in the North-east.

• £60 million put towards a Town Centre Regeneration Fund.

• £500 million spent on tackling fuel poverty, with one in three households helped to improve home energy efficiency.

• Tax burden reduced on the sale of homes, with 93% of house buyers paying less than under UK stamp duty land tax or paying no tax at all.

• The number of private sector businesses in Scotland at 361,345, the highest number recorded – productivity is up 4.4% compared to 0.2 per cent in the UK.

• International exports increased by 36%. (2007 to 2014) £20.3 billion to £27.5 billion.

• Tourism healthier with 15.5 million tourists visiting  in the year to September 2015.

• Enterprise and development spending per head in Scotland is double that of the UK, and spending on research and development has increased by 44% since 2007.

• Won new powers over tax and social security; protected Scotland’s budget from a £7 billion cut by the Treasury over financial arrangements enabling new powers.

• ​

A fairer Scotland     

• More than 80% of Scots paid the Living Wage of £8.25 an hour. Scotland offers highest proportion of workers in UK at least a living wage.

• In 2011, the first government in the UK to pay the Living Wage to its staff.

• Poverty levels down. 260,000 fewer people in poverty in 2014 than in 2000.

• Invested £90 million to ensure that no-one in Scotland has to pay the Bedroom Tax, protecting up to 72,000 households from threat of eviction or becoming homeless.

• Over half a million vulnerable households – including over 200,000 pensioners and 86,000 single parents – protected from UK Government cuts to Council Tax support.

• Almost 3,000 disabled people supported through the Independent Living Fund Scotland, set up after the UK Government scrapped its support.

• Over 200 companies sign Scottish Business Pledge to boost productivity.

• 54,000 new affordable homes built, and counting.

• Number of days lost to industrial disputes down 84%, the lowest of any UK country.

• Encouraging public, third, private sector companies to boardroom gender equality.

• Nicola Sturgeon appointed first cabinet with an equal number of women and men.

• Scotland is leading light on LGBTI equality, with progressive equal marriage laws.

• Over £75 million has been spent since 2007 to help some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.

• A Lobbying Act that ensures big business interests are not given cover to sway decisions in their favour, but must have open, on-the-record meetings with MSPs.

• Launched a £300,000 Sports Equality Fund with the aim of increasing women’s engagement in sport.

• ​

A safer Scotland 

• Violent crime down 55%, homicides 51%, weapons/knife crime two-thirds.

• £216 million invested in the creation of the new national police service.

• The new Scottish Crime Campus provides a focal point for excellence in intelligence-sharing, evidence gathering and forensic science to tackle serious organised crime.

• Since 2007, 1,000 more police officers keeping our communities safe. By contrast, police numbers south of the border have fallen to their lowest level in 15 years.

• Automatic early release ended: long-term prisoners will serve their sentence in full.

• Reconviction rate reduced to its lowest level in 16 years.

• £75 million seized from criminals reinvested in community projects for the young.

• HMP Grampian opened in March 2014 and HMP Low Moss opened in March 2012, two major parts of the prison building programme.

• Access to air weapons tightened.

• A record £33 million invested to tackle domestic violence against women and girls.

• Access to justice for survivors of domestic abuse improved too.

• Tackling sectarianism backed up with record investment.

• The new Scottish Fire and Rescue Service created.

• Scotland has the UK’s first national action plan on human rights.

• ​

Investing for the future 

• £1 billion invested annually in public and sustainable transport to encourage people out of cars. Spending for safer walking and cycling at a record high.

• Scottish Steel, Ferguson Shipyard, and the last remaining UK aluminium smelter in Lochabar – all saved.

• The £1.4 billion Queensferry Crossing built against Tory and Labour opposition.

• Tolls on the Forth and Tay bridges abolished, commuters continue to save £184 a year crossing the Tay, £207 a year on crossing the Forth.

• Borders Railway reopened, longest railway built in Britain in over 100 years.

• £742 million Edinburgh-Glasgow rail improvements; widespread electrification of the network between the two cities, and to Stirling and Dunblane.

• £3 billion to create 80 miles of dual carriageway on the A9 Perth-Inverness, £745 million to Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, plus M8, M73 and M74 motorway.

• £170 million Aberdeen Inverness rail upgrade; new stations Dalcross and Kintore.

• Contracts worth £97 million will protect the 150-strong workforce and create 100 new jobs at the last commercial shipyard on the Clyde.

• Prestwick Airport saved from closure, safeguarding around 1,350 jobs.

• £500 million a year to deliver high water quality, better environmental protection, and better service for customers. Scottish Water now UK’s most trusted utility.

• £400 million to deliver superfast broadband to 95 per cent of properties across Scotland by the end of 2017.

• Negotiating the renaissance of the UK’s only aluminium smelter in Lochaber, Fort William, creating over 600 new jobs, half in the smelter, half in services.

• Baillieston to Newhouse motorway opened one week early and on budget.

• The Borders Railway, the longest new domestic railway to be built in Britain in over 100 years, has reopened and welcomed over 1 million passengers in its first year.

• A £5 billion investment programme in Scotland’s railways up to 2019 will deliver greener trains, new stations, new track upgrades, more seats, and more services.

• £3 billion to dual 80 miles of carriageway on the A9 Perth-Inverness, £745 million for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, plus M8, M73 and M74 improvements.

• Contracts worth £97 million will protect the 150-strong workforce and create 100 new jobs at the last commercial shipyard on the Clyde.

• Exceeded the 2016 target to provide broadband access to 85 per cent of premises, and we’ll reach 100 per cent by 2021.

• ​

Empowering communities

• The independence referendum was the biggest democratic exercise in our history.

• The voting age for Scottish Parliament and local government elections permanently lowered to 16, starting from May 2016.

• Fighting for LGBTI rights, plus secured best equal marriage laws in the world.

• Local communities given a voice – backed up with £20 million funding – in the planning and delivery of local services through the Community Empowerment Act.

• £9 million Scottish Land Fund helped 52 communities across the country purchase land. Over 500,000 acres now in community ownership – benefiting 71,000 people.

• The ambitious Land Reform Bill introduced to transform rules around the ownership, accessibility and benefits of land in Scotland. More reforms to come.

• ​

A greener Scotland 

• Renewable electricity output more than doubled since 2007, with renewables largest contributor to electricity generation in Scotland.

• Our target to reduce energy consumption by 12% by 2020 exceeded, a 13.3% reduction between 2006 and 2013.

• Scotland is on target to deliver world-leading climate reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 42% by 2020.

• Moratorium on underground coal gasification and fracking.

• Household recycling at its highest ever levels. 43% of household waste recycled.

• Carrier bag use reduced by 80%. Bag charge raised £7 million for good causes.

• Investment in flood defences and new measures in the Flooding Act.

• Scotland was one of the first countries in the world to sign up to the UN Sustainable Development Goals; established the world’s first Climate Justice Fund.

• Scotland became the world’s second Fair Trade Nation in 2013.

• Helped make our communities safer from flooding; investment in flood defences and new measures in the Flooding Act. Agreed a new 10 year funding strategy for flood protection, consisting of £42 million a year, aiming to protect 10,000 families across Scotland.

• ​

Supporting rural communities

• A record £1 billion invested in vessels, ports and ferry services since 2007 as part of a commitment to the islands and remote communities.

• Residents of Caithness and north-west Sutherland, Colonsay, Islay, Jura, Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles are eligible for a 50% discount on air fares.

• Created a key role in reforming EU fisheries policy to bring an end to the wasteful discarding of fish at sea.

• With food and drink exports valued over £5 billion, and new jobs created in the sector by 2020, continued support to promote Scotland’s top quality produce.

• Fares on ferry services frozen until 2017 for passengers, cars, commercial vehicles.

• Opting out of cultivation of genetically modified crops in Scotland.

• Scotland’s National Marine Plan to achieve sustainable development of our seas.

• ​

Enabling creativity and sport 

• Free access maintained to museums and galleries, with 27 million visits to Scotland’s world class national collections since 2007.

• Government provided support for Scotland to welcome the world in 2014, with the staging of the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

• £162 million pumped into Scotland’s screen sector since 2007.

• £130 million invested in our cultural infrastructure – including revamped National Museum of Scotland, National Portrait Gallery, the palace at Stirling Castle.

• £16 million direct investment in Edinburgh’s 12 major festivals since 2008.

• £25 million for the Victoria and Albert Museum of Design in Dundee.

• The new Bannockburn visitor centre which opened in February 2014, and the creation of the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Ayrshire which opened in December 2010.

• 1.5 million opportunities created for youth to take part in youth arts in 2015.