First Minister John Swinney has pledged to bring about "radical change" to Scotland over the next five years, promising "significant" reform of the country's public services. The commitment comes ahead of his Programme for Government statement to Holyrood on Tuesday, the first day back for MSPs after the summer recess.
Landmark moment for Parliament
Speaking ahead of the keynote address, Mr Swinney described the statement as a "decisive and significant moment for the Scottish Parliament". He added: "I think it's a landmark moment for the Parliament because this will be a Parliament of radical change in Scotland."
Speaking to the Press Association, the First Minister said Tuesday's statement would set "both the direction of the government and the style of the government". He stated: "It is a very significant and different moment, because I think this represents a moment in which we have to embrace very actively public service reform and that will be at the heart of the programme."
Reform amid budget pressures
The Auditor General for Scotland, the country's public spending watchdog, recently warned ministers that the "devil will be in the detail" when it comes to reforming public services. The government has already stressed the need for change, as Scotland faces a projected near £5 billion black hole in the budget by the end of the decade.
Mr Swinney accepted: "In the next five-year term there will have to be a significant amount of reform and restructuring of the way in which we organise ourselves in the country and how we deliver public services." He added: "I want to ensure we improve public services, to improve the lives of people in Scotland. And we have to be prepared to reform to do exactly that."
Focus on early intervention and economic opportunity
The First Minister said that themes in his Programme for Government would be "around early intervention and prevention" as well as about "making sure that people are right at the centre of our public services". He also said he was looking to "improve people's lives by improving economic opportunity".
With his SNP having won a fifth consecutive term in power in May's Holyrood election, the First Minister told how the "direction of the government will be very strongly entrenched in the manifesto that was successful in commanding public support". That would see policies "about being ambitious for Scotland" being brought forward, as well as focusing on "key issues that matter in our society, around eradicating chid poverty, around ensuring we have a dynamic economy, that we take action on the climate and that we strengthen our public services".
Minority government approach
He said: "These were the themes I won the election on, so those themes will underpin the substance of the government's agenda and the direction of the government." But he also stressed he was "conscious" that the SNP had failed to win the majority he had craved, leaving his party having to win support from political rivals to pass legislation.
"The tone of the government is very important as well," Mr Swinney said. "I am conscious although the SNP did very, very well in the election, and we have got a gap between us and our nearest rival party that is bigger than at any other moment in the history of devolution, we still don't command a majority of the Scottish Parliament."
He added: "So we have to approach the Parliament in a way that seeks to work with others to improve the lives of the people of Scotland, and that will underpin the approach in the Programme for Government in terms of the style of the government, where the government is reaching out to work with others, trying to seek common ground, to make sure that as a result of our collective efforts we improve the lives of the people of Scotland."
"I hope that there will be willing partners ready to work with us to advance that agenda," he concluded.
