AS WE move into the Christmas season, it feels impossible to ignore the reality that so many people in Scotland are struggling.

Christmas is a time when we talk about hope, but hope needs action. And with the Holyrood election approaching next year, Scotland must decide what kind of country it wants to be.

Do we want public services that only just survive, or services that support every family, every worker, every child?

Do we want to keep patching over cracks, or do we want a system that prevents crisis and supports people when they need it most?

Do we want a Scotland where children are growing up in deep poverty, or one where opportunity is real, not rhetorical?

Political choices created this landscape, and political choices can change it. Public services must sit at the very heart of a fairer Scotland.

They keep us safe, support our wellbeing, enable opportunity and provide the framework for economic growth. From health and social care to education, policing, and local government, these services are essential for individuals and communities.

Yet over a million people in Scotland live in poverty — half a million in deep poverty — and a quarter are children. This has changed little in well over a decade. Many public service workers themselves live in poverty, facing insecure work or low pay, creating a cycle of disadvantage that follows them into their retirement.

Poverty in Scotland will not end unless we invest in public services. Services in crisis must become services which support people in crisis. Social care, health, early years, further and higher education, children in care, and our police and justice services are central to the drive to end poverty — whether delivered in councils, the NHS or the community.

And none of these services exist without the people who deliver them.

Public service workers are the beating heart of our communities. They deliver the services we all rely on every day. A library with no librarians is just a room of books. A hospital bed without NHS staff is just a bed. A school without education staff is just a building full of children. Without dedicated workers, local services would collapse.

In the lead-up to next year’s Scottish parliamentary elections, we need to be honest about the quality of public services we want, how much we’re willing to pay for them, and which parties truly value the role of public services in reducing inequality and creating a fairer society.

Investing in public service workers is investing in public services. Staff need fair pay, good conditions, secure pensions, training, personal development, and the time to innovate and modernise our services.

Public services create equal opportunity, provide safety nets, and sustain the foundations on which all of Scotland prospers. But too often, instead of real investment, we hear glib slogans without any meaningful structural reform. We hear promises that “technology” or “efficiencies” will somehow fill the gaps; as if data on a dashboard can replace the skilled workers who actually care for our communities. It cannot. A nursery needs early years workers. A library needs librarians. Ambulances need paramedics. Care homes need carers.

People deliver public services, and these very same people rely on public services too. We all want investment in our public services.

Compassion needs to move from Christmas cards to ballot boxes. We cannot demand Scandinavian-level services unless we are willing to properly invest in them. We cannot keep expecting miracles from exhausted workers. And we cannot keep ignoring poverty while insisting on a fair society.

In 2026, Scotland votes. This Christmas, amid the lights and festive messages, we have the opportunity to reflect on what solidarity really means. Our communities deserve better. Our workers deserve better. Our children deserve better.

Only through serious investment and political will can we tackle poverty, strengthen our communities, and build a fairer, more prosperous Scotland. Public services are not simply part of a fairer Scotland, they are the heart of a fairer Scotland.

Next year, let’s choose to build a Scotland worth believing in, with public services at its very heart.

Lilian Macer is Unison Scotland secretary.