Why a Labour victory will not fix Scotland's cash-starved services

Not necessarily because they support the party, although many will, but because they hoped it may offer a solution to the problems they face each day.

After all, the one thing almost every part of the public sector needs is money, and surely an incoming Labour government would invest heavily after years of Tory austerity?

Even if the investment was in devolved areas, such an injection of money would lead to an uplift in the Scottish Government’s budget, enabling SNP ministers to fund new teachers and support staff for schools, reverse huge cuts in colleges, and put the nation’s universities back on a firm financial footing.

Unfortunately, that kind of money does not appear to be coming any time soon.

The £320 million in “Barnett consequentials” outlined in Labour’s manifesto will be welcome, but is not anywhere near the sum required to make a substantial difference.

For example, the Scottish Government spent the same amount on the last teachers’ pay deal, while last year’s Conservative budget was also said to be worth about £320m to Scotland.

Even on issues which would be relatively simple for a Labour government to resolve, such as the dramatic decline in international students linked to visa changes, it is unclear to what extent they are going to be more “welcoming” than their predecessors.

Of course, on investment, Labour’s hands will be tied to an extent by the damage caused to the economy in recent years, and perhaps party leader Sir Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves intend to splash the cash when growth returns.

But for now, it seems likely the biggest impact of the election of a Labour government on Scottish education will be the ending of the VAT exemption for private school fees.

Clearly this will have very direct consequences for some families who find they can no longer afford to send their children to independent schools. However, most Scottish state school pupils, and college and university students, will not notice much difference following the impending change in government.

This is also true for thousands of staff who work in these sectors, whatever their hopes had been.