In the heat of the election campaign the quality of our local environments, the spaces we use daily, was pretty low profile. Dominated by big ticket issues such as the cost-of-living crisis, our NHS, education and public body reform and independence – the state of the communities we live, work and play in didn’t feature. Yet, as our research tells us, the quality of our neighbourhoods matters, our environment matters – and improving these issues can in turn support action across many other policy areas.
As the dust settles on the election our CEO Barry Fisher highlights the need for us to now pull together, to roll up our sleeves and get on with addressing the issues that matter to people – reducing litter, dog fouling and inspiring people to take action to improve places across our beautiful country…
Regardless of how you voted in the Scottish Parliament elections last week, we are set to have a very different five years ahead of us. Not only will we have one of the largest numbers of first-time MSPs navigating the system, but we will have one of the most fragmented (or is it most diverse?) make up of parties with seats in Parliament.
The dynamics of the next parliamentary term are going to be interesting as the seats are split between six parties – one comfortably the largest, but the other five all returning between 17 and 10 seats.
While our pre-election analysis of the party manifestos highlighted that all political parties failed to address tackling litter and improving communities for people and nature we know, from the wealth of data and public polling we have gathered and presented, that these issues really matter to people.
Our key policy priorities, which were backed by significant number of people, remain the same. And, even parties who wish to cease investment in Scotland’s net zero ambition must recognise that most of the people they represent want to see practical and urgent action to protect nature, our planet and ensure the places they care about feel loved.
We promised not to give up, and now that the election is over, we stand ready to engage again, to ask those representing you what they plan to do to ensure that the need for good quality urban, rural and remote spaces appears on future political agendas.
The challenges remain - councils in Scotland received more than one million complaints about overflowing bins, dog fouling and graffiti over the past five years, and this reflects our evidence that says 88% of people believe there is a litter problem in Scotland, while 73% of people think litter makes public spaces unsafe for children and 67% agree litter makes them feel embarrassed about their own neighbourhoods.
Before and during the election over 30,000 people across the country took part in local community litter picks – the commitment to act is strong, and the policy environment should reflect this strength of feeling around the country.
Across the local authority, charity and business sector in Scotland we are all operating in extremely challenging financial times. However, do we not all owe it to our country, our friends, families and colleagues to do the right thing, work collaboratively, and put party politics to the side to help keep Scotland beautiful as we look to the future?
We urge all elected MSPs to focus on what matters to the people they represent – it is time to start the hard work and focus on what people in Scotland want and need, and what our environment and nature deserves.
Now is the time to pull together and get on with addressing the issues that we know those living and working in communities across Scotland want to see.
Yes, people want to see more done to support our NHS, to help educators tackle the challenges facing them, to ensure there is a just transition for those working in the oil and gas sector. But, the common and underlying theme that comes through time and time again in our surveys is that we want to see a litter free Scotland.
We are committed to working across all political spectrums, and believe our policy priorities outlined simple, low-cost options that would start to make a real difference. Our door is always open and we invite all newly elected MSPs to engage with us, to come and find out more about how they can prioritise local environmental quality and at the same time combat climate change, restore nature and improve our beautiful country for everyone.
It’s time for action.
We support the 