The 15 key policies in John Swinney's Programme for Government: ScotRail alcohol ban, independence, NHS

John Swinney has officially revealed what he will do over the next 12 months as he attempts to woo voters ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election.

The First Minister said his Programme for Government was “very radical”. But opposition parties branded the police programme “flimsy” and with no clear plan to improve public services.

The Scotsman takes a look at exactly what is included in the SNP’s Programme for Government.

First Minister John Swinney | Jane Barlow/Press Association

Peak ScotRail fares

The headline from Mr Swinney’s Programme for Government is the pledge to scrap peak fares on ScotRail trains.

A £40 million pilot to remove peak rail fares ended last autumn as ministers said it had not encouraged enough people to make the switch to the train.

However, during his statement to parliament, Mr Swinney said: “Given the work we have done to get Scotland’s finances in a stronger position, and hearing also the calls from commuters, from climate activists and from the business community, I can confirm that, from September 1 this year, peak rail fares in Scotland will be scrapped for good.

“A decision that will put more money in people’s pockets and mean less CO2 is pumped into our skies.”

Scotrail has had to pay out an eye-watering £2.5 million in compensation to passengers for delayed or cancelled services in the three years since the SNP Scottish Government nationalised the company, says Sue Webber

Removing train alcohol ban

The blanket alcohol ban on all ScotRail trains will be removed, with ministers admitting the ban is “counterproductive and ineffective”.

The ban was first brought in as a lockdown restriction during the coronavirus pandemic, but up until now has remained in place. New restrictions which focused on particular times and locations will replace the blanket ban.

Independence paper

A final independence paper will be published focusing on the economic benefits of separating from the UK.

In its report, the Government said: “While we will do all we can with the powers available, we do so with one hand tied behind our back as many of the most significant levers remain beyond our grasp.

Read more: Programme for Government: John Swinney ramps up pressure on Labour with pre-election manifesto

“We will publish a further paper setting out the economic benefits that independence can bring for Scotland, with economic decisions taken in Scotland, for the benefit of Scotland, rather than a UK government that too often seems to treat Scotland as an afterthought.”

John Swinney and others mark the tenth anniversary of the 2014 referendum in September. Scottish independence remains the over-riding consideration for SNP politicians (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell) | Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Cosmetic procedures bill

By the next election, the Government will bring forward the Non-surgical Cosmetic Procedures Bill.

This bill will require all cosmetic procedures such as botox injections and lip fillers to be carried out in officially registered premises. The legislation would also enforce standards for those providing cosmetic procedures.

Single-use vape ban

The sale and supply of single-use vapes will be officially banned on June 1. This is in line with a ban that will also come into effect in England and Wales on the same day.

Just some of the many single-use vapes that were picked up

NHS

Mr Swinney said the NHS was to be one of his top priorities, and trailed a pledge to end the 8am scramble for GP ahead of his speech.

During his speech, he pledged to deliver 150,000 extra appointments and procedures before the next election, and give 100,000 patients a GP appointment focusing on high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, obesity and smoking by March.

The Government will also roll out community glaucoma services nationally, expand its pharmacy first programme to prevent the need to visit the GP, and spend £250,000 on menstrual and gynaecological health.

For the best Scottish politics news and analysis, get The Steamie newsletter

On dentistry, the Government has pledged to help support more international dentists to join the NHS workforce in Scotland, offer financial incentives for dentists to work in rural areas by October 2025, and increase domestic dental student numbers by 7 per cent from September.

On drugs and alcohol, the Government will spend £2.5 million, including increasing residential rehab capacity by 50 per cent to 650 beds and then 1,000 beds a year by 2026.

The report also includes a move to roll-out opt-out testing for blood borne viruses such as HIV and hepatitis B and C in emergency departments in NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Staff on a NHS hospital ward. PIC: Jeff Moore/PA Wire | Jeff Moore/Press Association.

Education

The Programme for Government includes a pledge to spend £200m in 2025/26 on reducing the poverty-related attainment gap in primary schools by 30 per cent by next year.

Ministers will also spend £29m on additional support needs staff recruitment and training, £2 billion on six new school buildings, and launch a national school attendance campaign in the autumn.

Nature

The Programme for Government included establishing statutory targets to help improve biodiversity and tackling the nature emergency. This includes pledges to increase peatland restoration from 10,000 hectares to 12,000, and creating 10,000 hectares of woodland, including 4,000 hectares of native woodland.

EV charging

When it comes to transport infrastructure, a lot of this legislative programme focused on electric vehicle charging points.

There will be more rural and island EV infrastructure grants to help deliver 24,000 public EV charging points by 2030.

There will also be a new pilot scheme to help those who do not have off-street parking in their homes to build cross-pavement EV charging stations and £35,000 for EV charging on college campuses.

Other measures to decarbonise transport include £4m to move more freight from roads onto the rails.

EV chargepoints in the South-East has grown by 29% in a year, with an additional 2,000 added since April 2024. Picture: Department for Transport

Tackling climate change

Ministers will now open up a new bidding round worth up to £8.5m for the north east and Moray just transition fund.

The Government will also spend £10m in 2025/26 on growing the hydrogen sector, including at Grangemouth, where Scotland’s last remaining oil refinery ceased operations last week.

Scottish ministers also laid down a challenge to the UK government to back the Acorn carbon capture project near Peterhead.

Ministers will increase the £80m they have already committed to this project in a bid to encourage the UK government to approve the Acorn carbon capture project in its next spending review.

Early years

The Programme for Government lists a number of measures to help improve maternal and early years health and care.

This includes embedding “preparing for pregnancy” into routine healthcare, allocating a primary midwife for all pregnant women by March 2026 and having 75 per cent of their antenatal care carried out by this person, and work to reduce the drop-off in breastfeeding at eight weeks postpartum by the end of 2025.

Ministers have also vowed to “enhance” the contents of the baby box offered to new parents by March 2026.

National Breastfeeding Month

Community projects

Millions will be spent on a number of community projects across Scotland over the next 12 months, including:

• Turning Inverness Castle into a tourist attraction;
• Upgrading the UHI North, West and Hebrides campus;
• Creating a manufacturing innovation centre in Moray;
• Setting up an Edinburgh innovation hub to help 100 new start-ups in the capital and East Lothian;
• Building Renfrew Bridge to link Renfrew with Yoker and Clydebank;
• Building three new industrial units in Coldstream;
• Creating investment zones in Glasgow and the north-east;
• Invest £70m on inter-island connectivity;
• Reactivating the Cullipool Village slate quarry;
• Redeveloping Cowdenbeath Town Hall;
• Developing the Cathcart Road net zero industrial units;
• Spend £500,000 on a mobile cinema for rural communities.

Democracy

Efforts to help more people feel involved in the country’s democratic processes were listed in the Programme for Government.

This includes piloting a citizens’ assembly in Dunfermline, exploring the idea of single authority models in Argyll and Bute, Orkney and the Western Isles, and devolving parking fines to local authorities by summer 2025.

Progress on the A9

The Programme for Government lists some of the progress expected to be made on the dualling of the A9 over the next 12 months.

It will publish the draft raiders for the Pass of Birnam to Tay Crossing section this spring, and award the construction contract for the Tay Crossing to Ballinluig section and procurement for the Pitlochry to Killiecrankie section by the summer.

The Scottish Government committed to dualling the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness in 2011 | Supplied

What else?

A number of other Bills will be introduced over the next year, including:

• Children and Young People (Care) (Scotland) Bill;
• Contract (Formation and Remedies) (Scotland) Bill;
• Digital Assets (Scotland) Bill;
• Heat in Buildings (Scotland) Bill;
• Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Bill;
• Crofting and Scottish Land Court (Scotland) Bill.