Scotland’s new first minister John Swinney has set out the four priorities for his government, including eradicating child poverty - which he said would be his “single most important objective” - and improving public services.
Mr Swinney told the Scottish Parliament today that the four priorities - which also included growing the economy and tackling the climate emergency - would guide his government’s “decisions on policy and budget”.
However, he was at pains to stress the “significant financial challenges that we face”, which he said had come about because of “Westminster austerity and the damage of Brexit”.
The first minister made his comments this afternoon, as speculation mounted this afternoon about a potentially imminent general election.
Government childcare investment
When it came to child poverty, Mr Swinney highlighted the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment and said that he had recently taken steps to wipe out school meal debt by opening a £1.5 million fund to support councils - a move promised by former first minister Humza Yousaf in 2023.
He said the government also planned to invest £16 million over two years, increasing access to childcare for low-income families, because “one of the most effective ways of tackling child poverty is by enabling parents and carers to enter sustainable employment”.
On improving public services, Mr Swinney said his government would support the NHS to recover from Covid-19 and work with councils “across a range of policy areas, including to continue to improve educational performance”.
Responding to Mr Swinney’s statement, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross accused the first minister of “more of the same promises that the SNP will break again”.
Mr Ross added: “While it’s commendable to set a goal of eradicating child poverty, this is coming from the man who as education secretary was tasked with, and failed, to close the attainment gap.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, meanwhile, said that the Labour party shared the government’s priority to end child poverty.
However, he hit out at Mr Swinney for “downgrading the results of working-class kids” during the pandemic and said SNP decisions had led to cuts to teachers and resources.
For the latest Scottish education news, analysis and features delivered directly to your inbox, sign up to Tes magazine’s The Week in Scotland newsletter
