Having produced suggested questions for hustings meetings, on issues seen as priorities by the churches, the SCPO has reviewed the six main party manifestos, looking at what (if anything) they each say on these issues; this briefing summarises the results of that review.

While reiterating their belief that the family should be the primary source of welfare provision, the Conservatives are promising to look at ways to increase the independence and autonomy of the voluntary sector. SIP funding will be given directly to councils to disburse as they see fit.

Community land ownership will be extended under Labour to urban areas. Community reparation schemes for offenders and a community warden scheme will be introduced. The party aims to close the gap in unemployment rates between the worst affected areas and the Scottish average by 2006. Extra financial support is promised for the poorest students.

The Liberal Democrats want to encourage community banking, credit unions and time banks. They will review the effectiveness of Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIPs). Other inclusion measures include improving building and transport standards to make them fully accessible to people with disabilities.

The SNP are guaranteeing equal access to employment, public services and transport for people with disabilities; they promise to examine links between poverty, ill-health and disability and to tackle barriers to full participation in society. Measures to support the voluntary sector in community regeneration are also promised.

The Scottish Socialist Party are promising to restore cutbacks in legal aid and its extension to workplace and consumer disputes, with the establishment of law centres in all local communities. Their manifesto contains a raft of measures to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, including civil rights legislation, increased support for carers, accessibility standards for all public transport and public buildings, and the recognition of British Sign language as an official language of Scotland.

The Scottish Green Party would involve communities in the development of local plans, from the outset, tackling issues such as leisure time and children's play space. They would make greater use of community sentences, rehabilitation, mediation and restorative justice with special measures for offenders with children or mental health problems.

By 2006, Labour are aiming to cut by 30% the number of households affected by fuel poverty. As part of this, they pledge to improve energy efficiency in 4,000 more homes through the Central Heating Programme, starting with householders over 80. The introduction of a Scottish Co-operative Development Agency is designed to support the social economy. Other plans include the introduction of fairer credit schemes and measures to protect from exorbitant interest rates, expansion of the money advice scheme, and - in liaison with the DTI - tackling harassment by unscrupulous lenders.

The Lib Dems would establish a statutory right to independent debt and money advice, and would extend the homes insulation and heating programme to include those in receipt of disability living allowance.

The Nationalists propose to abolish the Social Inclusion Partnership network, transferring the resources to local front line services, including securing more long term support for voluntary sector services dealing directly with poverty. Communities Scotland would also be abolished and its role transferred to local government. A Scottish National Anti-Poverty Strategy would be established, with pilots of childcare initiatives and smaller class sizes in areas suffering from high levels of poverty.

The SSP want to replace the Council Tax with a Scottish Service Tax related to income and replace domestic water charges with a water levy of 0.5% on business turnover. They would increase the minimum wage and introduce a maximum 35 hour week for public sector workers; abolish the new debt recovery scheme; allocate funding for welfare rights workers specialising in improving benefit uptake; encourage credit unions in deprived areas, in partnership with the local community. They have pledged to abolish rent for pensioners living in public housing, including sheltered housing.

The Greens are calling for the introduction of a Citizen's Income Scheme (CIS) to replace benefits, with additional amounts for pensioners and those with special needs. The rate is to be determined through "extensive research". The retirement age would be replaced by measures to allow older people to reduce their hours of work.

Labour have pledged to work with the churches as well as employers, schools and sporting clubs, on tackling sectarianism.

The Lib Dems will implement the cross-party working group's proposals on tackling religious hatred and introduce a Languages of Scotland Bill to require public bodies to create a languages plan reflecting their local community.

The SNP are committed to bringing in a Languages Act, securing Gaelic and Scots as well as ethnic community languages. They have pledged also to continue the ‘One Scotland Many Cultures’ approach. In an independent Scotland, citizenship would be automatically open to all those living in Scotland, born in Scotland or with a parent born in Scotland.

SSP policy is to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the UN Declaration into Scots law. They would ensure that all public information is available in Scotland's main ethnic community languages.

A recognition of the rights of travelling people is a priority for the Greens, who also want all schools to be enabled to offer languages which "reflect Scotland's cultural and ethnic diversity", including Gaelic, Urdu, Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Chinese languages and British Sign Language.

The Lib Dem manifesto states that they would "ensure that public services enable asylum-seekers to live with dignity".

A new, positive attitude towards asylum seekers and refugees would be promoted under SNP plans. They will push for the responsibility for refuge and asylum to be transferred to the Scottish Parliament, and removal of restrictions on the right of refugees and asylum-seekers to work. With independence, the SNP claim they will deliver a fair immigration policy without racial bias.

The closure of Dungavel Detention Centre is promised by the Scottish Socialists. They would give secure tenancies to all asylum seekers living in public housing, and establish a hardship fund for immigrants denied access to legal aid, housing and social security benefits.

The Conservatives would bring community care under the control of GPs, who could choose to use either private or public care providers. Labour propose the abolition of NHS trusts, replacing them with Community Health Partnerships. More respite breaks for carers are promised by the Lib Dems. The SNP want to see more flexibility in education, training, and employment for carers. Full funding of community care for people with disabilities, would be given by the SSP, with enhanced support for carers, and steps taken to ensure that carers are accessing all the benefits to which they are entitled. They would replace NHS trusts with a democratically run Scottish NHS.

The Tories would transfer the remaining council housing stock to community ownership. Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP are all planning to introduce a decent homes standard, to increase the social housing stock and encourage community-based housing associations. For private sector housing a common factoring scheme would be implemented. The Nationalists have pledged to support local housing stock transfer where it has the backing of the tenants. They promise to take action to prevent young people in particular from ending up on the streets, to give support to those already sleeping rough, to address the alcohol, drug and psychiatric problems which contribute to homelessness, and ensure that there is a supply of decent, affordable houses for rent. The SSP would cancel local authority housing debt, end housing stock transfers, create a minimum housing standard, replace the Right to Buy scheme with a graduated rents discount and allocate £4-5 million for the creation of council tenant forums. They propose a statutory obligation on construction companies to build one house for rent (from the local council or community housing association) for every ten for sale.

Unlike the other main parties, the Lib Dems' manifesto has no separate section on the environment, but has "Green action" points interwoven across the other sections. They would oppose any new nuclear power stations, ensure new public buildings and social housing include renewable energy sources in their design, and set a target for local authorities to recycle 25% of waste by 2006 and 55% by 2020. They would introduce green transport plans and consider special environment courts.

Labour plan to establish recycling points in every community by 2006 and doorstep collection for every household by 2010. They would implement an Organic Action Plan, legislate to protect nature conservation and strengthen prosecution for environmental crime.

The SNP would undertake an Environmental Audit, as the basis of a National Plan for Sustainability, with cross-cutting targets. The Plan would adopt targets agreed as part of the Kyoto Protocol and include CO2 proofing on major policies and projects, set targets to encourage energy efficiency, and consider establishing energy ratings for buildings for sale or let. The National Waste Strategy and Area Waste Plans would become mandatory and consideration given to making air quality standards mandatory. Revenue from a Landfill Tax would be used to finance recycling.

All landfill sites and toxic waste dumps would be shut down by the SSP, along with a 5-year moratorium on GM crops to allow more research and a ban on the transportation of nuclear materials. They would allow communities the power of veto over the siting of mobile phone masts, include environmental education in the school curriculum, and appoint a dedicated Environment Minister.

Conservative strategy is to encourage care of the environment through the promotion of "civic pride", encourage recycling at local level, promote energy efficiency, and turn Scottish water into a mutual company to improve efficiency.

The Greens would develop a national resource use strategy for Scotland encompassing a ‘zero waste’ approach. Every 5 years the volume of waste dumped in landfill sites or incinerated would be halved until the practice was eventually eliminated. Measures including a plastic bag tax would help fund recycling schemes. Community recycling trusts, owned and managed by local people, would develop local solutions to waste problems. Revenue would be generated by the waste disposal tax and other financial penalties, with all profits reinvested into the local community.

The Conservatives refer to a need to strengthen families, without offering specific proposals

Labour also believe that support for families and carers is vital, promising to improve services and support for adoptive and foster parents.

The SNP are championing Family Courts in Scotland - combining divorce, contact, residency, domestic violence, and some youth crime. Parent Compensation Orders are also part of their crime strategy.

The SSP, the Lib Dems and the Greens would all give equal rights for same-sex couples and recognise the civil registration of partnerships. The Socialists argue for increased funding for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) projects and for initiatives in schools and colleges to tackle homophobia, as well as a new strategy to tackle domestic violence, including an education programme to challenge violence against women and children. Green proposals would give increased child care provision, more flexible working arrangements and the right to work from home where possible.

The SNP, the Lib Dems, the SSP and the Greens all support PR for local government – with STV the preferred option.

The Tories want to halve the number of Executive Ministers and cut the number of MSPs from 129 to 108, while "streamlining" the committee system. They propose a weekly question time for each minister to make the Executive more accountable. To limit the power of "party machines" they would introduce an "open list" system where voters would rank the candidates for each party. Their goal is to strengthen relationships between the constituent parts of the UK.

The SNP are also proposing to cut the number of Ministers. In an attempt to focus on local issues, they would hold local government elections separately from Scottish parliament elections.

Labour want to retain the current electoral system for local government and introduce measures to encourage more people to stand for local office, including lowering the age qualification for candidates to 18.

The Lib Dems support the abolition of the post of Secretary of State for Scotland and lowering the voting age to 16. Devolution at local level to community councils and housing associations and co-operatives would be encouraged, in tandem with an expansion of the role of the voluntary sector, including the development of an agreement between funding bodies and faith organisations on funding church-based projects.

Both the SNP and SSP are promising a referendum on independence. Participatory local democracy with neighbourhood assemblies would be encouraged by he Socialists, along the lines of the Brazilian model. The Greens want more powers for the parliament and control over its own finances.