Swinney says he offers a ‘programme for a better Scotland’
John Swinney promised Scots will benefit from 100,000 more GP appointments as he announced his “programme for a better Scotland” – which will also see peak-time rail fares scrapped “for good”.
The Scottish First Minister set out his Programme for Government, detailing the work ministers will do over the coming 12 months.
But with the next Holyrood elections being held in a year’s time on May 7 2026, two of his keynote announcements – on GP appointments and ending peak-time rail fares – echo commitments already made by Scottish Labour.
Claiming the SNP had “nicked” the policies, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “It’s not exactly the borrowing powers I thought the SNP had in mind.”
Mr Sarwar’s comments came after the First Minister insisted he was putting a “renewed and stronger NHS” at the heart of his plans for the next 12 months.
Mr Swinney accepted the difficulty many face in getting GP appointments can cause “deep frustration” in what he said was “described as the 8am lottery”.
To tackle that he promised “an extra 100,000 appointments in GP surgeries”, with the SNP leader going on to add these would be “focused on key risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and smoking”.
Meanwhile, he said the move to scrap peak-time rail fares for good from September 2025 was part of a “package of cost-of-living support” offered by the Scottish Government.
These include policies Scots already benefit from such as free university tuition, free prescriptions and council tax and water bills that are, on average, lower than those paid by residents south of the border.
A pilot project had already seen peak-time rail fares in Scotland scrapped, leaving travellers paying the cheaper, off-peak prices regardless of when they travelled.
However, Mr Swinney said “severe budget pressures” meant this policy could not be continued, and it was ended less than a year ago in September 2024.
I can confirm that, from September 1 this year, peak rail fares in Scotland will be scrapped for good
But 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.”
He added that this was “a decision that will put more money in people’s pockets and mean less CO2 is pumped into our skies”.
On ending child poverty, something the Scottish First Minister has declared as one of his key priorities, he said over the next year the government would consult on and develop a new Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan for 2026-31.
Mr Swinney said this would outline the actions to be taken “to keep us on the journey to meet our poverty reduction targets for 2030” – when the number of children living in relative poverty should be reduced to 10% or less.
The new plan will “focus on reducing household costs, boosting incomes through social security, and helping more people into fair and sustainable jobs”, the First Minister added.
His Programme for Government also promised more money for the Acorn carbon capture and storage project planned for the north east of Scotland.
While the Scottish Government has previously pledged £80 million for this, he said he would “remove that cap and increase the amount of Scottish funding that is available” – although this will only happen if the project is given the go ahead by the UK Government.
He urged the Labour administration at Westminster to give support “not only to carbon capture projects in England, but also to the Acorn project” – with the First Minister adding this would help with efforts to secure a future for the recently closed oil refinery at Grangemouth.
His comments came as he warned that “new threats are emerging that have the potential to cause extensive damage to the Scottish economy” – with Mr Swinney referencing here the impact that tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump could have on “many Scottish exporters to the USA”.
Speaking about the “looming economic challenge”, the First Minister promised a new fund would be created to help with the “commercialisation of research projects with significant economic potential”.
Overall he told MSPs at Holyrood that his plans amounted to a “programme for a better Scotland”.
He added: “Centred on delivery, providing hope, it is a programme that seeks what is best for Scotland, a Programme for Government that gets our nation on track for success.”