Scotland’s first minister sets out pared-back programme for government

Scottish first minister John Swinney has set out the SNP’s 2024-25 programme for government – and accused Westminster of failing to account for inflationary pressures in its devolved funding plans.

The package, which includes 14 new pieces of legislation, comes days after finance secretary Shona Robison confirmed £500m of cuts to balance the Scottish Government’s current-year budget.

Changes in the new programme for government include watering down a previous commitment to provide free school meals to all primary school pupils. Under the just-confirmed programme, the expansion of free school meals will only cover primary six and primary seven pupils in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment. 

Meanwhile, annual targets for tree planting and peat bog restoration have been pegged significantly below aspirations set out in 2020. The programme for government commits to restoring 10,000ha of degraded peatland and creating 10,000ha of woodlands over the year. The earlier plans were for 20,000 and 18,000 respectively.

In his foreword to the programme, Swinney said his cabinet had been clear about the “financial limitations” surrounding the agenda.

“We have just announced several emergency spending controls and savings measures for 2024‑25,” he said. “This government has a record of strong financial management, having lived within the resources available to us for 17 years.

“These emergency measures are a product of continued austerity and due to no provision being made by the UK government for the effect of sky‑high inflation – serving only to undermine our budget.

“The measures we have had to take have been deeply frustrating decisions, but they have also brought even greater focus to our four priorities – priorities I believe will have the most tangible impact for people living in Scotland.”

The Scottish Government’s four priorities are: eradicating child poverty; growing the economy; tackling the climate emergency; and ensuring high quality and sustainable public services.

Among the 14 pieces of primary legislation set to be introduced to parliament over the course of the year are the Community Wealth Building Bill, designed to support the retention of more wealth in local and regional economies, and the Misogyny Bill, which seeks to provide more powers to prosecute those who harm women and reinforce barriers to an equal society.

Speaking to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, finance minister Robison said the £500m cuts package needed to balance the current year’s budget would include £188m of savings from departmental spending plans. Of that figure, £116m will come from the health budget.

Robison also announced that she would release £460m of one-off funding generated from leasing rights granted for offshore wind farms to plug gaps in the budget. The so-called ScotWind funding had previously been earmarked to support the transition to net zero.