Key announcements from John Swinney's programme for government

Setting out his legislative agenda for the coming years in a speech to MSPs, John Swinney confirmed plans to push ahead with a food price cap and slash the number of NHS health boards in Scotland.

Elsewhere, the First Minister announced an extension of the £2 bus fare cap and fired the starting gun on local government reorganisation.

John Swinney | PA

Mr Swinney also pledged to “undertake radical and widespread public service reform” as well as expanding childcare.

Food price cap

Mr Swinney announced plans to introduce a price cap on essential foods ahead of the Holyrood election in May.

A consultation on the draft legislation has now been published, despite a fierce backlash from business groups.

Retailers have warned the proposals could backfire and push up prices, while opposition politicians have dismissed the move as a “political stunt”.

Mr Swinney had wanted legislation “in place” by the end of the year, but documents say no decisions have been taken on timescales.

£2 bus fare cap

Mr Swinney said bus fares will be capped at £2 across Glasgow and surrounding areas from Monday, September 7. This follows a pilot in the Highlands and islands, which has been running since spring.

“I can confirm today that bus fares in the west of Scotland, be that Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire or Inverclyde will be capped at £2 and the £2 bus fare will start this coming Monday morning,” the First Minister said.

The cap will be rolled out nationally by 2031, the government said.

NHS health boards slashed

Mr Swinney confirmed plans to replace the current 14 territorial health boards with two strategic health boards.

“This will be the most significant structural reform of our NHS in the era of devolution,” he said.

The First Minister said reform will help ensure “no one waits more than 26 weeks for the treatment they need” by the end of 2031.

But trade unions have already sounded the alarm.

“The Scottish government has set out a slash and burn programme for the NHS,” said Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham.

Childcare expansion

Mr Swinney also pledged to “transform childcare” by giving support 52 weeks of the year for children from nine months until the end of P7, promising “a generational expansion”.

He added: “That means breakfast clubs in all primaries by the start of the next school year, and new after school and holiday provision available for all primary kids by August 2029.

“This will ease the pressure on family budgets for thousands of young parents across Scotland, as well as creating new opportunities for work, and a boost to productivity and growth.”

Council reform - and a bonfire of the quangos

Mr Swinney said some of Scotland’s councils are “too small to be strategic” or “too big to be local”.

He announced “a three-month period of intense engagement” about “a new structure for local government in Scotland”.

This will include social care reform.

Elsewhere, he signalled a bonfire of the quangos, including scrapping Transport Scotland as a separate entity and merging Scotland’s environmental agencies.

Child poverty

Mr Swinney said a priority for the government was eradicating child poverty and that measures would be taken to make that possible through the Scottish child payment.

"We work with families to help them out of poverty in addressing issues around housing or employability or, in some cases, addiction issues or childcare issues," he said.

"We're working alongside families to help those families get out of poverty and to make sure that children have the best chances of a start in life.

"It will be reinforced by the programme for government to make sure that the eradication of child poverty is written through all of the policy commitments of government to meet the expectations of the public in Scotland."

Violence against women and girls

The First Minister said the Scottish government would seek to make progress on a previously scrapped misogyny Bill and to launch a multi-year, public health campaign, to challenge misogynistic attitudes in boys and young men.

He said: “We will end the postcode lottery of service provision to ensure that every woman and girl, regardless of where she lives, has access to safe and sustainable services.

“That includes developing a new, multi-year fund for specialist, third-sector, organisations responding to what organisations need to sustain vital services and deliver critical preventative work, we will enhance protections for women by recognising pregnancy as an aggravating factor in domestic abuse cases, and provide support for those leaving abusive partners through our fund to leave.

“And we will invest in targeted interventions, including a multi-year public health campaign, to challenge and to change problematic, misogynistic attitudes in boys and young men.”

College funding

Mr Swinney pledged an investment of £22 million to help parents access the skills and training through the new Colleges RISE, Training Access Fund and Flexible Workforce Development Fund.

Regional Economic Partnerships are planned to cater for employers’ skills needs and support people into training and jobs.

The Scottish government has also committed to expanding apprenticeships, funding at least 150,000, and developing a new Apprenticeship Accelerator Grant and apprenticeships for disabled young people.

Universities

The First Minister also said universities will be supported to make more money from their research.

New so-called Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) will “connect businesses with academic institutions to drive innovation and growth across the country,” the PFG says.

Primary education

And on primary education, the Scottish government will “create a more stable teaching workforce and address teacher recruitment challenges by supporting more primary teachers to retrain into employment in secondary schools and addressing specific challenges in recruitment in rural and island communities”.