Parties eye two-week countdown

The parties are focusing on various issues

Scotland's main political parties have been trying to boost their profiles with voters two weeks before polling day.

On Thursday morning, the Scottish National Party (SNP) focused on law and order and stepped up its call for fiscal autonomy for the Scottish Parliament.

The Liberal Democrats repeated their pledge to tackle the £1.3bn backlog in school repairs and blamed the problem on Labour for adhering to past Conseravtive spending plans.

Roseanna Cunningham wants to widen parental responsibility

The SNP launched a two-pronged attack on Labour's record in Holyrood and Westminster.

During a visit to Saughton Prison in Edinburgh, deputy leader Roseanna Cunningham detailed the party's plans to tackle crime - which is a devolved issue.

"Youth offending is a growing problem in Scotland, and is a clear example of where effective initiatives should be introduced to tackle a problem which is very real and causes great upset in many of our communities," she said.

"The SNP believe that parental responsibility should be more formally recognised. Parents are already held personally responsible for their children's school attendance in Scotland.

Ms Cunningham said that "it makes sense to consider a further extension of the existing legal responsibilities of parents for the actions of their children".

Fiscal autonomy

"It is our view that a form of Compensation Order could be imposed on parents when the actions of their children result in either physical damage to property or tangible upset to a victim," she said.

She added that the SNP would back this by putting an additional 1,000 police officers on Scotland's streets.

Meanwhile, in London, former SNP leader, Alex Salmond, kept the debate going on public spending and taxation.

Malcolm Bruce: "Recruiting more teachers will help"

He accused Labour of "squeezing" Scotland's share of public spending and argued that it was now time to give the Scottish Parliament full fiscal freedom.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats kicked off their two-week election countdown by pledging to invest £1.3bn to tackle the backlog of repairs in the country's schools - another devolved issue.

Party president Malcolm Bruce pledged to increase income tax across the UK by 1p to pay for the upgrades that were needed.

Mr Bruce said: "Reinvestment in school buildings is crucial to allow for higher educational standards and will improve the quality of learning for our pupils and allow us to deliver lower class sizes.

"Our commitment to recruiting more teachers will help reduce class sizes and the workload of teachers. That's something they are extremely concerned about."

School repairs

Mr Bruce claimed "18 years of Tory misrule and Labour's insistence on sticking to Tory spending limits from 1997 to 1999" were responsible for the estimated £1.3bn backlog of repairs and maintenance.

He said the Liberal Democrats had committed to a schools 2010 capital investment programme during campaigning for the Holyrood elections in 1999.

That programme commits the party to investing £1.3bn by the end of this decade to upgrade school buildings.

Mr Bruce added: "Liberal Democrats are determined to tackle this backlog. Schools must have better quality buildings to allow smaller class sizes and to maximise the potential of the pupils and teachers."