Sturgeon to set out ‘radical and wide-ranging’ Programme for Government

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon

While protecting public health will remain the priority, the Scottish Government will also set out plans to help people, businesses and communities recover from the pandemic by creating new jobs, promoting lifelong health and wellbeing and tackling inequalities.

Setting out the Scottish Government’s priorities through to the end of this Parliament in May 2021, the Programme for Government will take steps to ensure that in responding to the pandemic Scotland also delivers on its commitments to tackle child poverty and to reach net-zero by 2045.

Speaking ahead of the launch of the Programme for Government 2020-21 tomorrow, the First Minister said: “COVID-19 – the single greatest public health crisis of our lifetimes – has had a profound impact on our health, economy and society, indeed our whole way of life. These are not normal times, and this will not be a normal Programme for Government.

“Businesses and individuals have made extraordinary sacrifices to tackle this pandemic together. In every community in Scotland people have shown incredible resilience, compassion and skill to provide everything from the most advanced intensive care, to simple acts of kindness.

“That is why it’s so important for us to continue to keep the virus under control.

“At the same time we must also look to the future – to think about how we can help people, businesses and communities recover from this pandemic. We cannot, and should not, let this virus define our futures.”

Ms Sturgeon said she will set out “radical and wide-ranging policies” to help Scotland through this crisis and drive a strong recovery with a “renewed focus on what matters to people across the country”.

She added: “We have an opportunity, not simply to go back to how things were, but to address many of the deep seated challenges our country faces. The Programme for Government 2020-21 will be based on our determination to recover from this virus and deliver a fairer, greener and more prosperous Scotland for everyone.”