Soapbox: Manifestos must address prevention - James Mitchell, John Carnochan and Dr Jonathan Sher

One election is over and another is about to begin.  Consideration will soon turn to the content of manifestos for next year’s Holyrood elections.  Each manifesto sets out a programme for government and an appeal for votes.  These can be conflicting objectives.

Policy pronouncements with an eye on electoral advantage are often based on short-term thinking at the cost of long-term needs..The numbers promised are invariably easily remembered round numbers. Such promises are only tenuously related to meaningful outcomes.

Once elected, parties are held to account for these commitments, even though they may not be the wisest use of scarce resources.  Our public finances remain precarious, if not parlous.  We simply cannot afford soundbite promises.  

FURTHER READING:

Soapbox: Social investment must continue - Alastair Davis

Soapbox: JRF report reveals threat to core service delivery - Grahame Smith

Manifestos over the last generation have been anaemic and restrictive. The 2016 Scottish manifestos need to emphasis quality and equality over raw numbers.  

They also need to make primary prevention of social ills and inequalities real, instead of allowing prevention to remain a rhetorical touchstone. For instance, how to reduce the need/demand for A&E services is a more important manifesto commitment than simply bolstering the numbers of A&E staff responding after preventable harm has happened. 

The case for prevention across all services is proven.  Now is the time to act. We need a commitment by all parties to address the problems that undermine prevention by creating ever-increasing demands on services.  Better lives and life chances for all should be the litmus test for manifestos. Nothing else will do.

James Mitchell is Professor of Public Policy at Edinburgh University and was a member of the Christie Commission.  John Carnochan OBE QPM FFPH was the co-director of the Violence Reduction Unit and is the author of Conviction. Dr Jonathan Sher was Scotland Director of WAVE Trust and coordinator of the Scottish coalition supporting Social Justice Begins With Babies.