2024 manifesto · published 19 June 2024

What did SNP propose in 2024?

Requests for Westminster funding and devolved powers, alongside the case for independence. Scottish responsibilities and UK-wide proposals need to be read separately.

Evidence last reviewed 11 October 2026

The same seven issues and source fields are reviewed for all seven selected parties. This is a June 2024 Westminster-election baseline, not a statement of current policy or a forecast. Northern Ireland parties and later devolved-election manifestos are outside this comparison.

Seven issues, the same questions

These are summaries of proposals, not quotations or assessments of whether they were delivered. Open each issue for its mechanism, original estimates, timing and source.

Housing

Westminster asks: devolve Housing Benefit and Local Housing Allowance, restore the £1.3bn cut to the Scottish Government's capital budget, scrap the bedroom tax, uprate Local Housing Allowance annually, and reintroduce a simplified Help to Buy ISA for first-time buyers.

Scope: Scotland; housing is devolved — manifesto sets out Westminster asks

Mechanism, cost, funding and source
Mechanism
Devolving Housing Benefit and Local Housing Allowance would let the Scottish Government expand social housing delivery and help fund house building; restoring the capital budget is framed as the response to the housing emergency. The manifesto says the Scottish Government has delivered over 128,000 affordable homes, mitigated the bedroom tax in full and introduced temporary rent cap controls.
Published cost
No cost published in the manifesto; the £1.3bn figure is the capital-budget cut it asks the UK Government to restore (described as a cumulative loss by 2027/28, PDF p. 13).
Funding
Not stated
Timing
Not stated
What remains unclear
The manifesto does not say how much new housing would follow from the devolved powers or restored capital budget.

Original manifesto · PDF pp. 12, 13, 17, 26 (printed pp. 10, 11, 15, 24)

NHS

Westminster asks: back the SNP's 'Keep the NHS in Public Hands' Bill, raise NHS England spending by at least £10bn a year plus at least £6bn for staff pay, giving £1.6bn a year for NHS Scotland, and reverse restrictions on overseas care workers bringing families.

Scope: Scotland; health is devolved — manifesto sets out Westminster asks

Mechanism, cost, funding and source
Mechanism
The Bill would keep the health service publicly owned and operated and stop future trade deals undermining NHS protections; extra NHS England spending would generate about £1bn (performance) and £600m (pay) annually for NHS Scotland. The manifesto says the Scottish Government is investing £300m to drive down waiting times.
Published cost
At least £16bn a year for NHS England (£10bn spending plus £6bn pay), stated to generate £1.6bn annually for NHS Scotland; no base year given.
Funding
Not stated
Timing
Not stated
What remains unclear
IFS: because some of the rest-of-UK funding would come from income tax rises that do not apply in Scotland, Scottish Government funding would rise by less than the SNP assumes.

Original manifesto · PDF pp. 6, 20 (printed pp. 4, 18)

IFS scrutiny of this programme

Tax and spending

Westminster asks: full devolution of tax powers (including National Insurance, windfall taxation, road tax and fuel duty), VAT changes, replacing UK fiscal rules with three new rules, reversing the £1.3bn capital cut and an immediate emergency budget to reverse spending cuts; independence to transfer decisions on taxes and spending to Scotland.

Scope: UK-wide asks; most tax is reserved (Scottish income tax is devolved) — manifesto sets out Westminster asks

Mechanism, cost, funding and source
Mechanism
Devolved NI rates and thresholds would fit Scottish income tax rates; a windfall tax would be balanced across companies; with full VAT powers it would end the private school exemption, cut VAT for hospitality and tourism and remove it from on-street EV charging. Proposed fiscal rules: a Public Sector Net Worth rule, an upper limit on debt servicing costs and three-year spending plans; it says Scottish income tax already raises an additional £1.5bn.
Published cost
No cost published in the manifesto
Funding
Not stated
Timing
Emergency budget immediately following the election; other timing not stated.
What remains unclear
IFS: the largest assumed revenue source (£30 billion a year from rejoining the EU) depends on the UK rejoining within the parliament, which IFS called seemingly unlikely.

Original manifesto · PDF pp. 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 22 (printed pp. 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 20)

IFS scrutiny of this programme

Work

Westminster asks: devolve employment rights and the minimum wage; scrap zero hours contracts, ban fire and rehire, create a single 'worker' status, reform statutory sick pay, extend maternity pay and shared parental leave, and repeal the Strikes (Minimum Services Levels) Act and Trade Union Act 2016.

Scope: UK-wide asks; employment law is reserved — manifesto seeks devolution

Mechanism, cost, funding and source
Mechanism
With devolved powers it would raise the minimum wage to at least the national living wage, uprate with inflation and end age-based pay rates; scrap the sick pay threshold and four-day waiting period. Maternity leave would rise to one year (100% of average weekly earnings for 12 weeks, then 90% or £185.00 for 40 weeks), and shared parental leave from 52 to 64 weeks with 12 weeks for fathers.
Published cost
No cost published in the manifesto
Funding
Not stated
Timing
Repeal of the Trade Union Act 2016 'without delay'; otherwise not stated.
What remains unclear
The manifesto does not say how the proposals would apply before employment powers are devolved or who would fund the extended maternity pay.

Original manifesto · PDF pp. 7, 25 (printed pp. 5, 23)

Education

Defend free university tuition in Scotland; Westminster asks include rejoining the EU (with re-entry to Erasmus+), reversing the £1.3bn capital cut to invest in schools, a RAAC Remediation Fund, and ending the VAT exemption for private schools once VAT powers are held.

Scope: Scotland; education is devolved — manifesto sets out Westminster asks

Mechanism, cost, funding and source
Mechanism
The manifesto says the Scottish Government has removed charitable rates relief from private schools, extended free school meals and cancelled school meal debt, and expanded free childcare (saving families £5,500 a year); it also says Trident money should go to public services including schools.
Published cost
No cost published in the manifesto
Funding
Not stated
Timing
Not stated
What remains unclear
The manifesto contains no school-standards or curriculum proposals and does not say how much capital would go to schools.

Original manifesto · PDF pp. 6, 7, 12, 15, 17, 27, 29 (printed pp. 4, 5, 10, 13, 15, 25, 27)

Energy

Westminster asks: devolve powers over energy regulation, pricing and production; UK Government to invest at least £28bn a year in the green economy with an equity stake in future energy projects; match the £500m North-East transition fund; no new nuclear plants in Scotland and no new coal licences; cut standing charges.

Scope: UK-wide and Scotland asks; energy market regulation is reserved — manifesto seeks devolution

Mechanism, cost, funding and source
Mechanism
Asks include modernising Contracts for Difference, advancing the Acorn carbon capture project, case-by-case climate compatibility tests for new oil and gas licences, extending Grangemouth refining, hydrogen interconnection, a single Scottish fuel poverty scheme, a Highlands and Islands pricing and rebate scheme, and removing standing charges for prepayment meters. Returns on the equity stake would be used to protect jobs and lower bills.
Published cost
At least £28bn a year of UK Government green investment (no base year given); £500m North-East Transition Fund that the UK Government is asked to at least match.
Funding
Not stated for the £28bn; separately seeks devolved borrowing powers to invest in a just transition.
Timing
Not stated
What remains unclear
The manifesto does not say how the £28bn a year would be funded or how big the equity stakes would be.

Original manifesto · PDF pp. 7, 11, 17, 21, 22, 23 (printed pp. 5, 9, 15, 19, 20, 21)

Immigration

Westminster asks: devolve powers for a separate Scottish migration system, introduce a rural visa pilot, expand shortage occupation lists, reverse the ban on overseas care workers bringing families, scrap the Rwanda scheme, give asylum seekers the right to work, and rejoin the EU restoring free movement.

Scope: UK-wide and Scotland asks; immigration is reserved — manifesto seeks devolution

Mechanism, cost, funding and source
Mechanism
Scotland should have full immigration powers including over overseas workers' employment visas; until then a UK rural visa pilot would address labour shortages. It also opposes no recourse to public funds, asks for safe asylum accommodation, an EU youth mobility scheme and extended visa rights for Ukrainians.
Published cost
No cost published in the manifesto
Funding
Not stated
Timing
Not stated
What remains unclear
The manifesto does not describe how a Scottish migration system or the rural visa pilot would be designed or run.

Original manifesto · PDF pp. 6, 7, 20, 23, 28, 29 (printed pp. 4, 5, 18, 21, 26, 27)

What was costed, and who would pay?

No whole-programme costings table was identified in the reviewed manifesto. Individual amounts and funding requests are recorded below; missing amounts are not zero costs.

Not stated

These are the party’s 2024 estimates, not today’s receipts or spending. Annual and whole-parliament amounts, different price bases and different geographies cannot be added or ranked as though they were the same.

Independent scrutiny and implementation limits

Institute for Fiscal Studies, 2024-06-19

UK-wide top-ups including £18 billion for unprotected departments by 2028-29, £6 billion then a further £10 billion for NHS England, at least £28 billion a year of green investment and a £20 billion essentials guarantee; to be funded by UK tax rises (higher income tax matching Scotland, estimated £16.5 billion in 2028-29), an assumed £30 billion a year from rejoining the EU, and extra borrowing. IFS gave no single net total. The EU revenue assumes rejoining within the parliament, which IFS called seemingly unlikely; plans imply higher borrowing and debt rising for longer, and the independence case ignores the fiscal challenges.

What would implementation need to resolve?

These are the issues identified in the dated source review, not forecasts of markets, health outcomes or an election result. Later policies need a separate assessment.

Housing
The manifesto does not say how much new housing would follow from the devolved powers or restored capital budget.
NHS
IFS: because some of the rest-of-UK funding would come from income tax rises that do not apply in Scotland, Scottish Government funding would rise by less than the SNP assumes.
Tax and spending
IFS: the largest assumed revenue source (£30 billion a year from rejoining the EU) depends on the UK rejoining within the parliament, which IFS called seemingly unlikely.
Work
The manifesto does not say how the proposals would apply before employment powers are devolved or who would fund the extended maternity pay.
Education
The manifesto contains no school-standards or curriculum proposals and does not say how much capital would go to schools.
Energy
The manifesto does not say how the £28bn a year would be funded or how big the equity stakes would be.
Immigration
The manifesto does not describe how a Scottish migration system or the rural visa pilot would be designed or run.

What happened at the election—and since?

These proposals were published for the July 2024 general election. Election results, present voting intention and government delivery are different measures; use the linked evidence pages for each.