Counting down to Programme for Government

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will publish a Programme for Government next week focused on dealing with the economic, health, and social crisis caused by coronavirus (COVID-19).

Protecting public health will remain the priority, and 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.

The Programme for Government, which will be published on Tuesday, 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, 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.

“Next week, I will set out radical and wide-ranging policies not only to help Scotland through this crisis but to drive a strong recovery with a renewed focus on what matters to people across the country.

“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.”

To be Published on Tuesday 1 September, the Programme for Government 2020-21 will set out the Scottish Government’s priorities through to the end of this Parliament in May 2021.