Manifesto review in progress. Selected source extracts; campaign approval is still pending. This is not a complete policy audit or an assessment of delivery.
2026 manifesto source record
Scottish Labour
7
relevant source extracts currently included in the review, each linked to its PDF page.
PDF SHA-256 21fa87b60071… · 184 pages. This is a bounded source review, not a delivery assessment.
What the manifesto says
1,500 more classroom assistants to help teachers manage behaviour and give pupils more 1:1 support.
Costing page 179 instead labels the 1,500 as teachers; unresolved source inconsistency.
vs
The costing chapter says something else
Spend £630m on increasing classroom teachers by 1,500 and recruiting 2,000 education recovery teachers.
The costing chapter labels the 1,500 as classroom teachers. The education chapter labels them classroom assistants. This is an unresolved source inconsistency, not a delivery verdict.
These extracts were checked against the source PDF. The collection is focused on teacher employment and closely related staffing policy and should not be read as a complete summary of the party's education manifesto. Classification and campaign interpretation remain separate from the quoted source wording.
South Ayrshire had 5,888 ASN pupils and 92 ASN teachers, East Ayrshire 4,957 and 116; Labour MSP Carol Mochan said the number of specialist teachers had collapsed.
Martin Whitfield asked how the 3,500 extra teachers pledge would be met, given the 2025 census showed an increase of only 63 FTE. Jenny Gilruth said teacher numbers had risen for the first time since 2022, backed by £186.5m of ring-fenced funding.
At the education committee, convener Douglas Ross asked Jenny Gilruth when she had last met Scottish Teachers for Permanence. She said a meeting was scheduled, pointed to inconsistent council use of contracts and a 'huge overreliance on probation', and committed to a review.
Willie Rennie's Lib Dem debate (S6M-17669) called for a new teaching workforce plan. Jenny Gilruth announced a review of the teacher induction scheme and probationer allocation. The amended motion was agreed 89 to 23.
East Renfrewshire's 2025/26 budget, backed by all parties, raised council tax by 8%. Council leader Owen O'Donnell (Labour) said teacher numbers would be protected. The council's settlement was £271.3m, up £14.7m.
Fife's Labour administration budget, passed 40-31, made no cuts to teacher or PSA numbers but required £2m of education 'efficiency' savings. The SNP opposition called any cut to frontline education unacceptable.
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