Liberal Democrats believe in investing in and improving the quality of our public services. They are the cornerstone of a fair society, opening up opportunities and providing support and help when needed.

Despite increased investment, there are still problems. Too many children leave school without the knowledge and skills to be successful. The NHS often feels too remote and complex for patients to handle. Local services are often under threat of centralisation. And inequality is rife: in Britain today your chances in life are more determined by your parents’ income than anywhere else in the developed world.

We want to provide a fair start for all children to give all children the best possible education. We will scrap unfair university tuition fees that still hit Scottish students who study in England so everyone has the chance to get a degree, regardless of their parents’ income. We will help the NHS work better with the money it has and put a priority on frontline services instead of the costly bonuses given to the highest paid staff in health boards.

the best chance for every child

Liberal Democrats want every child to receive an excellent education, to unlock their potential and to ensure they can succeed in life.

Too many children are still leaving school without the knowledge and skills to be successful. And your family background still has a huge effect: a typical child from a poor family will fall behind a richer classmate by the age of 7 and never catch up. We will seek to ensure that all pupils leaving primary and secondary education have the skills they need.

Liberal Democrats want an education system where pupils are treated as individuals and given the opportunities to choose an education that inspires and engages them. We want schools and teachers to have greater flexibility and autonomy and for parents to support their children and their school as partners.

protecting and improving our NHS

We are proud of the NHS – it’s built on the basic British principle of fairness. Liberal Democrats believe we can improve the NHS. In fact, we believe it’s our duty to do so at a time like this when budgets are tight.

So our first priority is to help the NHS work better with the money it has. We have identified savings that can be made in management costs and the pay bill of the highest paid staff. We want that money reinvested back into the health care you need.