Scottish election 2021: Scottish Conservatives manifesto at-a-glance

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross launched the party's manifesto

The Scottish Conservatives have unveiled their vision for Scotland ahead of the 6 May Holyrood election.

Below are the main policies from the party's manifesto. The full document can be found here.

Top priorities

• End division and rebuild the country from the pandemic

• Oppose another referendum on Scottish independence

• Make tackling unemployment the top priority of the next Scottish Parliament

• Create at least 200,000 jobs by investing to improve roads, railways and broadband infrastructure

• A school catch-up plan including a national tutoring scheme and hiring 3,000 extra teachers

SCOTLAND ALERTS: Get extra updates on BBC election coverage

Covid-19

• £600m to tackle the NHS backlog in 2021-22

• £40m to NHS staff wellbeing this year including rest facilities and mental health services

• Invest £120m in a two-year catch-up premium allocated to schools on a per pupil basis

• Delay the introduction of any new non-Covid related regulations on businesses to April 2023

• Introduce a Right to Retrain Account for every Scottish adult, with £500 to be spent on training every year

• Tougher sentences for those convicted of defrauding vulnerable people following an increase during the pandemic

Independence

• Oppose a second referendum on independence and repeal the Referendum Act

• Bring forward proposals to allow voters to recall MSPs in exceptional circumstances

• Give the Scottish Parliament the tools it needs to properly scrutinise government

• Support a freeze in MSP and ministerial pay for the next five years

• Support a reduction in the Cabinet from 12 to six

Economy

• Introduce a 10-working day national standard for all business support grant applications to be processed

• Maintain the poundage rate freeze until the 2023 revaluation

• Offer at least 25% rates relief to businesses in 2022-23 and introduce a tapered scheme for businesses with rateable values between £15,000 and £20,000

• Introduce a Scottish Exporting Institute for trade expertise

• Fund for full fibre broadband to every home by 2027

• Scrap parking charges to encourage local shopping

SCOTLAND'S ELECTION: THE BASICS

What's happening? On 6 May, people across Scotland will vote to elect 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). The party that wins the most seats will form the government. Find out more here.

What powers do they have? MSPs pass laws on aspects of life in Scotland such as health, education and transport - and have some powers over tax and welfare benefits.

Who can vote? Anyone who lives in Scotland, is registered to vote and aged 16 or over on 6 May is eligible. You can register to vote online.

Education

• Allocate £1bn of attainment funding to all schools over five years

• Oppose any cancellation of exams

• Review the quality of teacher training and recruit 3,000 more teachers

• Create a Rural Teacher Fund to attract teachers to work in rural areas

• Introduce a dedicated STEM teacher in every primary school

• Introduce a "subject guarantee" to pupils that allows them all to take at least seven subjects in S4

NHS and care

• Increase annual NHS funding by at least £2bn by 2025-26, based on current estimates

• Increase medical school training in line with future need, prioritising people who live in Scotland

• Invest at least 11% of the overall NHS budget into general practice by the end of the next Parliament

• Increase mental health funding to 10% of the frontline health budget

• Ask the Drugs Death Taskforce to publish a comprehensive review into the provision of drug treatment and recovery services before the end of the year

• Maintain local democratic accountability of the social care system and avoid what the party calls "unnecessary" structural reforms

EU relations

• Create a "global Britain" now that the country has left the EU

• In fishing, negotiate a "transformative sector" deal with the UK government with catchers and processors agreeing on a shared vision for the industry's future

Environment

• Establish a £25m Cleaner Seas Fund to take harmful products including plastics out of the seas

• End peat extraction and aim to restore peatland to 20,000 hectares by 2024-25

• Bring forward a new Animal Welfare Bill which would ban the use of electric shock collars and the sale of dogs with cropped ears

• Create Scotland's third national park in Galloway and consider proposals for other national parks

• Bring forward a Circular Economy Bill to help Scotland achieve net-zero emissions by 2045

• Support the UK government's North Sea Transition Deal, which will invest up to £16bn to reduce emissions and secure 40,000 jobs

Work and benefits

• Use devolved powers to target "specific" groups in receipt of the UK government's £20 per week increase to Universal Credit

• Free school lunches and breakfasts for all children in primary school

• Increase the Scottish Child Payment to £20 per week

• Introduce a taper rate to the Carer Allowance so that carers do not lose all of their allowance if they earn more than the limit

• End rough sleeping by 2026 by investing £10.8m in a Housing First programme

• Create a government-owned company to give disabled people work experience and skills to help them secure long-term employment

Housing

• Build 60,000 new affordable homes with 40,000 of these in the social rented sector

• Invest £50m in the Rural Housing Fund

• £2.5bn over the next five years on energy efficiency in homes and buildings

• Introduce Compulsory Sales Orders for long-term unoccupied properties in Scotland

• Ban the use of combustible cladding in Scotland

• Permanently increase the threshold for paying Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) to £250,000

Transport

• Expand the M8 to three lanes and upgrade the whole A1 to a dual carriageway

• Invest £200m to repair potholes

• Deliver a national charging infrastructure by 2025 for electric vehicles

• Introduce a Scottish Smart Travel Card for passengers to use on all types of domestic transport in Scotland

• Rebuild local railways where it would "make economic sense"

• Scrap Caledonian Maritime Assets and introduce long-term contracts for ferry operators

Crime

• Bring in a Victims Law which would include an end to the not proven verdict and prevent convicted killers from being released unless they disclose where their victims' remains can be found

• Introduce a Local Policing Act which would include reinstating policy scrutiny boards across Scotland

• Double the maximum sentence for assaults on police and other emergency workers

• Introduce whole-life sentences, end the presumption against short sentences and end automatic early releases

• Repeal the Hate Crime Bill and introduce a Protection of Free Speech Bill

• Revoke prisoners' right to vote

• BASICS: A really simple guide to the election

• POLICIES: Who should I vote for?

• CANDIDATES: Who can I vote for in my area?

• PODLITICAL: Updates from the campaign

Do you have a question about the Scottish Parliament election? Use the form below to send us your questions and we could be in touch.

In some cases your question will be published, displaying your name, and location as you provide it, unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published. Please ensure you have read the terms and conditions.

If you are reading this page on the BBC News app, you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question on this topic.