Scottish ParliamentJohn Swinney has unveiled his government’s spending plans for the year ahead which he said will focus on the fight to eliminate child poverty.
Delivering his first Programme for Government as leader, he warned that Holyrood faces “some of its toughest tests” in 25 years amid a budget squeeze.
His speech to MSPs comes just a day after his finance secretary announced £500m worth of cuts, including to the health budget.
Shona Robison laid the blame at Westminster for not providing enough cash for Holyrood, although opposition parties pointed to the independent Scottish Fiscal Commission which said most of the budget constraints are a result of the Scottish Government’s own decisions.
Despite slashing spending though, Swinney said he remains committed to tackling child poverty and investing in child services.
“Our goal is to lift every child in Scotland who is in poverty out of it, so, we must do more,” he said.
Here, the First Minister stressed the need to ensure a “system of whole-family support” is available – adding this must be “easy to access, well-connected and responsive to families’ needs”.
He added: “Over the coming year, we will work with partners to enable greater local flexibility, so that services can be more easily tailored to the needs of the families they support.”
He said the Scottish Government would “consider where greater investment is needed”.
But he said: “The key objective of the approach we will take forward will be to deliver significant reform of the work of public services to deliver whole-family support extensively across the country.”
What did he announce?
Not everything Swinney announced on Wednesday was new. Some policies and funding were already under way and the FM sought to confirm they would continue over the next year.
The biggest investment came in the announcement that £1bn a year will continue to be spent on affordable childcare.
The next biggest announcement came in the form of housing, with £600m being invested in affordable housing, including £40m to make existing homes affordable.
£100m will also go towards building 2,8000 mid-market rented homes.
What did John Swinney announces during his first Programme for Government?
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£1bn a year into high-quality, affordable and early learning childcare - £600 m for affordable housing, including £40m to bring existing homes into affordable use and £100m to build 2,800 affordable homes
- Creative Scotland’s Open Fund to remain open
- Two green freeports and two new investment zones
- £500m for offshore wind aimed at generating £1.5bn of private investment
- Big changes to ministerial code could make it easier for ministers to be investigated
- Complete national rollout of carer support payment to help 100,000 carers
- Dualling of A9 to be progressed
Creative Scotland will reopen its Open Fund, Swinney revealed, after previously cutting the funding body’s budget.
The First Minister has received backlash from artists such as Lewis Capaldi and Paolo Nutini over the decision to axe the fund.
He also announced a major change to the ministerial code which could make it easier for ministers to be investigated.
That announcement follows the row over Michael Matheson’s iPad expenses last year, which ultimately led the health secretary to resign.
Independent advisers will now be able to initiate investigations into the conduct of ministers, as opposed to requiring the First Minister to call for a probe.
“I want my Government to set the highest standard of propriety and integrity,” he said.
“I want trust to be at the heart of our relationship with the people of Scotland.”
The FM said he wanted to encourage investment in Scotland while ensuring the Government meets its goals on net zero.
He announced £500m investment in offshore wind which he said would be used to generate £1.5bn in private investment.
Meanwhile, two green freeports will be created alongside two new investment zones.
‘A list of empty platitudes by an SNP Government that is out of ideas and out of money’
Douglas Ross said the Programme for Government showed the SNP was out of ideas.
The outgoing Scottish Tory leader criticised Wednesday’s announcement as “a list of empty platitudes by an SNP Government that is out of ideas and out of money”.
“After 17 years of SNP incompetence, Scotland’s finances and public services are in an almighty mess,” he said.
“The result of that could be seen in John Swinney’s speech, which amounted to a list of empty platitudes by an SNP government that is out of ideas and out of money.
“The Programme for Government is desperately short of firm commitments because their own mismanagement – in the form of wasteful public spending and a high-tax, low-growth economy – has forced the SNP to impose savage spending cuts to fill a huge financial black hole.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said Swinney’s spending plans showed he had “no vision, no strategy and no plan” for the country.
He said: “At a time when our country needs change, the SNP has given us more of the same – the same sticking plaster approach, the same rehashed announcements and the same level of denial from the third First Minister in three years.
“Scotland needed a Programme for Government that recognised the scale of the challenges facing our country – stagnating growth, record-long NHS waiting lists, falling education standards, rising levels of drug deaths, and a housing emergency.
“But instead we have an SNP Government with no vision, no strategy and no plan.
“It is getting clearer by the day that Scotland needs change.”
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