By Bill Heaney
Despite their practice of telling people how good they are – and spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on PR propaganda to do just that – less than half the people on the receiving end of council services are happy with them.
Scottish Labour has said Scots are sick of paying the price for SNP failure, as new figures show satisfaction in public services plummeting.
The SNP was in power at both local and national level in West Dunbartonshire until May last year when Labour wrested the basket case Nationalist council back from them at the local government elections.
The 2021 Scottish Household Survey revealed that satisfaction with every single service covered in the report fell between 2020 and 2021, with overall satisfaction with public services falling from 61 per cent to 55 per cent.
Satisfaction with local health services plummeted by 10 percentage points, with dissatisfaction doubling.
Refuse collections, elderly care services, health, education and pot-holed roads.
Satisfaction with both schools and public transport fell by 3 percentage points among those using the services.
Less than half of those surveyed agreed that their Council provides high quality services after a 6 percentage point drop, while trust in Scottish Government dropped four percentage points.
Scottish Labour Finance spokesperson Michael Marra, right, said: “From our NHS to our schools to our communities, every single public service in Scotland has been left weaker after 16 years of SNP failure.
“Instead of rebuilding from the pandemic, they have let services decline. People are sick of paying the price for SNP incompetence – it’s clearer than ever that Scotland needs change.“
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour will force a Scottish Parliament vote on the SNP’s record of financial mismanagement in government.
The party will hold a debate highlighting the fact more than £3.7 billion of public money has been wasted under the SNP.
Labour’s motion slams the SNP for 16 years of “failed financial interventions, incompetence, waste and inefficiency” and calls on the government to prioritise “openness, transparency and competence”.
The debate comes amid ongoing turmoil in the SNP’s party finances, which Scottish Labour has said is mirrored in their financial mismanagement in government.
Labour Finance spokesperson Michael Marra said “The SNP’s party finances are in turmoil – but we can see the same mismanagement and secrecy in government.
“Their disastrous incompetence has wasted more than £3.7 billion of public money, leaving Scots paying more and getting less in return.
“Scotland cannot afford any more SNP failure – it’s time for some real transparency around public finances.”
| Health* | Schools* | Transport* | Overall | |||||
| Answer | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Satisfied | 88% | 78% | 88% | 85% | 82% | 79% | 61% | 55% |
| Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied | 3% | 6% | 6% | 8% | 8% | 9% | ||
| Dissatisfied | 8% | 16% | 6% | 8% | 11% | 12% | ||
*Satisfaction among service users
Percentage of adults agreeing with various statements about their local council, 2020-2021:
| Answer | 2020 | 2021 |
| My local council provides high quality services | 54% | 48% |
Trust in the Scottish Government fell by 4 points from 74 per cent to 70 per cent from 2020 and 2021. Source: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-household-survey-2021-telephone-survey-key-findings/documents/
Even the staff at West Dunbartonshire Council are unhappy with the level of service they provide and put that down to financial constraints and budget cuts imposed by the SNP government nationally and the SNP administration in Dumbarton.