Reform’s manifesto is built around a single central argument – that Scotland’s public services have declined not because of insufficient spending but because of misaligned incentives, ideological distraction and excessive centralisation. The remedies proposed are broad in scope: tax cuts, quango abolition, energy policy reversal, welfare reform and a restructured relationship between Holyrood and local government.
The headline economic offer is a consolidation of Scotland’s six income tax bands into three, aligned with the rest of the UK and then set 1p below each band immediately, with a stated ambition to reach 3p below within the first parliamentary term. The party claims the initial cost of around £2bn can be absorbed through the abolition of Net Zero subsidies (currently £1bn) and savings from closing or restructuring the 132 quangos that receive a combined £6.5bn annually.
On public finances, the manifesto is notably candid. It acknowledges Scotland’s £30bn structural deficit (approximately 12% of GDP), uses this explicitly to argue against independence, and frames economic growth rather than spending cuts as the primary route to fiscal sustainability. Every 1% of economic growth, the document notes, generates £8bn of cumulative additional tax revenues over a decade.
Beyond tax, the major policy commitments include:
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Net Zero: All “SNP Net Zero” targets, subsidies and associated quangos to be scrapped. The planning system to be revised to fast-track hydro, geothermal and open-cast coal. North Sea oil and gas to be rehabilitated as Scotland's primary energy system. The ban on new nuclear facilities to be lifted.
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NHS: An independent Scottish Healthcare Reform Commission to be established, tasked with producing action plans on workforce, delayed discharges, social care integration, prevention and technology. The income tax cuts are framed partly as a workforce retention measure - a consultant with one year's experience would take home an additional £5,200 annually without any change to gross pay.
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Welfare: Face-to-face reassessment of all claimants. The carer support payment cliff edge to be tapered rather than removed abruptly. Welfare savings redirected into adult back-to-work and apprenticeship programmes.
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Housing: The SNP's abolition of the local connection requirement for housing applications to be reversed. LBTT to be phased out on a revenue-neutral basis and rolled into an annual property tax. SNP private rented sector regulations to be repealed for all new tenancies.
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Local government: The new annual property tax - consolidating LBTT and business rates - to be devolved entirely to local authorities, giving councils a more stable and self-determined funding base.
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Education: Education Scotland to be abolished. The Curriculum for Excellence to be rebooted with a knowledge-based core. Mobile phones banned in classrooms. Further education reoriented around 10 identified business clusters.
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Holyrood reform: Reduction in MSP numbers from 73 to 57. Quangos closed and powers returned to ministers. A government efficiency department established. A formal 10-yearly review of Scotland Act Schedule 5 powers.
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Policing and justice: The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act to be repealed. The Scottish Sentencing Council to be abolished. Prison capacity to be expanded. High sentences for repeat offenders.
Download the full Reform Manifesto analysis here.
Written by Sam Rowe