John Swinney to launch programme for government early

John Swinney has announced he will bring forward his programme for government (PfG) to May. 

Speaking to the media at Bute House this morning, the first minister said launching his government’s intentions on 6 May will allow it 12 months to deliver ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections next year.  

Swinney said the PfG “will be laser-focused on delivery” in the face of “anxiety” caused by US tariffs. 

It will set out the Scottish Government's intention to improve access to GP appointments, cut NHS waiting times, raise more children out of poverty, and capitalise on economic opportunities from renewable energy, Swinney told reporters. 

Swinney said: “My ambition is that people will look at the programme for government and see in it not only a reflection of the challenges they face in their daily life, but also meaningful solutions to those problems.” 

The first minister also called for more intergovernmental meetings to discuss the needs of the UK’s devolved governments and to ensure they are not “an afterthought as the evidence increasingly suggests”. He described Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ fiscal rules as “a self-imposed economic straitjacket” and called on the UK Government to scrap the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions.

Swinney was also critical of the UK Government for not stepping in to save the Grangemouth oil refinery after it nationalised the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe at the weekend. 

His pitch to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, he said, is to extend the life of the refinery, while the opportunities identified from Project Willow, the report which analysed future economic use cases for the site, get under way. 

With the plant losing a reported $500,000 per day, the first minister was asked whether he would be comfortable losing that from the Scottish budget. While he did not directly answer the question, he said in line with the move to nationalise British Steel, “we need a commensurate approach” with Grangemouth.  

Speaking on whether the Scottish Government is exploring nationalising the plant on its own, Swinney confirmed “it would not be adequate” due to “the scale of the project”.  

He said: “We need to work with the UK Government given the scale of that project. There is an opportunity for common ground and common purpose, and we are willing and open to taking that forward.” 

Responding to John Swinney’s calls for the UK government to abandon its fiscal rules, Scottish Labour finance spokesperson Michael Marra said: “For years fiscal incompetence has been SNP practice and now it appears to be official policy.

“An end to any kind of fiscal rule promises economic chaos and vast interest rate rises hitting growth and hammering mortgage rates.

“Liz Truss showed us that working people pay the price when governments gamble with our economy, but the SNP wants to do the same again.”