The Scottish National Party has published its 2026 manifesto, setting out priorities for the next Parliament across public services, poverty, communities and the economy. While the manifesto does not explicitly reference youth work, it contains a number of commitments that align strongly with the role youth work already plays in supporting young people across the country.
The Scottish National Party has published its 2026 manifesto, setting out priorities for the next Parliament across public services, poverty, communities and the economy.
While the manifesto does not explicitly reference youth work, it contains a number of commitments that align strongly with the role youth work already plays in supporting young people across the country.
Key SNP manifesto commitments relevant to young people and youth work
The SNP manifesto includes a number of commitments that could positively impact young people, communities and the wider youth work sector.
Support for the third sector
The manifesto recognises the importance of Scotland’s third sector and commits to an agreement to strengthen its voice and improve lives, including multi-year funding to allow better planning and more sustainable service delivery.
Enterprise and opportunity
Through the First Minister’s Start-Up Challenge, the SNP proposes support for young people from disadvantaged or under-represented backgrounds to start and grow businesses through mentoring, tailored support and grants.
Sport and participation
A new Sports Taster Fund, backed by £5 million, would help children and young people across Scotland try new sports, with an initial focus on activities including shinty, rugby, golf, cricket, basketball, athletics and boccia.
Mental health support
The manifesto commits to continued funding of up to £20 million annually for school counselling, expanded one-to-one support, and a new Children and Young People’s Crisis Framework and Crisis Intervention Fund.
Education and schools
The SNP sets out plans to improve schools through a focus on attendance, attainment, behaviour and curriculum reform, alongside legislation for phone free classrooms with flexibility for travel and practical needs.
Skills and employment
A new Apprenticeship Accelerator Grant would support more young people into apprenticeships, alongside a bespoke scheme to help disabled young people access apprenticeships and employment.
Digital safety and wellbeing
The manifesto proposes a public health campaign for young people and parents on healthy and safe use of social media, screen time and online activity, including tackling harmful misogynistic and violent online influences.
Child-centred justice and recovery
The SNP commits to continued rollout of Bairns’ Hoose, backed by long-term national investment, ensuring children can access trauma-informed justice, recovery and advocacy services.
Prevention and community safety
A new Social Impact Investment approach would begin with a £200,000 development fund for preventative justice programmes, including safe spaces for young people and diversion from anti-social behaviour and crime, with potential to grow into a £10 million fund focused on prevention for young people.
Positive signals for prevention and early intervention
One of the most significant proposals is the commitment to develop social impact investment focused initially on justice and prevention.
This new £10 million Social Impact Investment Fund echoes the sector’s calls for more safe spaces for young people across the country.
This reflects a growing recognition that investment upstream delivers better outcomes downstream.
Youth work has long demonstrated this approach in practice. Trusted relationships, safe spaces, mentoring, diversionary activity and community-based support help young people make positive choices and reduce pressure on justice, health and crisis services.
Multi-year funding for the third sector
The commitment to multi-year funding is also significant.
Longer-term funding is one of the core asks in A Right, A Space, A Future, which calls for fair, ring-fenced multi-year investment for youth work nationally and locally.
For many youth organisations, short-term annual funding cycles create instability, limit workforce planning and make it harder to sustain relationships with young people. Multi-year settlements can help shift the focus from survival to impact.
Wider manifesto themes where youth work is delivering
There are several other priorities in the SNP manifesto where youth work is making a significant contribution:
These are all areas where the sector already delivers every day across Scotland.
Scope to go further
The manifesto provides useful foundations, but there is clear scope to go further in the next Parliament.
Key opportunities include:
These priorities are central to A Right, A Space, A Future, the youth work sector manifesto for 2026.
A constructive opportunity for the next Parliament
The SNP manifesto may not name youth work directly, but many of its ambitions depend on the outcomes youth work helps deliver.
If Scotland is serious about prevention, tackling poverty, improving wellbeing and creating safer stronger communities, then youth work must be part of the solution.
The next Parliament offers an opportunity to turn aligned commitments into lasting progress for young people across Scotland.