The problem

The chapters in this book have focused on policies to fulfil the declared ambition of the Scottish Government to achieve a wealthier and fairer nation. The aim is unexceptionable and supported by all parties, but notoriously difficult to achieve in practice. In line with international thinking, the Scottish Government has argued for a social investment approach and for preventive spending in order to secure the long-term future, drawing particularly on the experience of the Nordic states but also of other countries that appear to combine economic performance with social inclusion. Yet defining these concepts and putting them into practice is not easy. Long-term ambitions must compete with short-term pressures on spending. The needs of future generations must be set against those of the present. Investment in physical and human capital may not provide the immediate, tangible benefits that come from current spending. While social investment may address economic and social problems at the same time by expanding opportunities and bringing people into the well-paid part of the labour force, it does not in itself resolve the big issues of inequality. There is still a role to be played by redistribution, which implies winners and losers among individuals and groups. It is also inescapable that to achieve Nordic levels of public spending it is necessary to pay Nordic levels of taxation, which are higher than those currently prevailing in the UK.

In this chapter, we ask whether the support base for such a strategy exists. First, we examine public opinion in Scotland and compare it with that in the UK as a whole. We find that there is support for universal public services but that a broader sense of solidarity has fallen over recent decades. Scotland is only slightly more egalitarian than the rest of the UK. Then we consider how support for social inclusion and equality might be built, drawing on experience elsewhere. Finally, we examine the institutions and competences that Scotland has following the three devolution acts of 1998, 2012 and 2016.