Scottish Government accused of backtracking on free school meals
Ministers say they can't afford to extend free meals to all primary kids
Critics say the Scottish Government is getting rid of one of the most powerful weapons against child poverty by appearing to drop a pledge to provide universal free school meals to all primary pupils.
The First Minister delivered the programme for government just 24 hours after his Finance Secretary announced around ÂŁ500 million of spending cuts.
John Swinney announced plans for "significant reform" to public services in order to provide "whole-family support" in the fight against child poverty - which he has said is his overriding goal in Government.
But the document said nearly ÂŁ22m funding will be targeted at expanding the benefit only to P6 and P7 pupils whose families are in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment.
The Scottish Government insists it remains committed to extending the policy to all primary pupils, but only when financial circumstances allow.
Pressure on families
John Dickie, from the Child Poverty Action Group, told us: "It was the First Minister himself who said when he was Education Secretary that this would be delivered by autumn 2022.
"The reality is the cost of a school lunch continues to put real pressure on family budgets, particularly those who are just above the means tested threshold.
"Our analysis shows that thousands of pupils in poverty in Scotland are not eligible for the free school meal because of the means test. So delivering on existing promises needs to be an absolute priority."
Scottish Green MSP, Ross Greer said: "The First Minister says the SNP government's top priority is tackling child poverty. That's clearly not the case when you've got hundreds of millions of pounds of tax breaks for business being left untouched and you're dropping your commitment to one of the most powerful ways to tackle child poverty,"
Rent controls
Along with changes to public services, the First Minister also pledged to introduce rent controls in new legislation, invest ÂŁ1 billion in "affordable, high-quality and funded early learning and childcare" and provide funding for Creative Scotland to restart its open fund.
Mr Swinney also pledged to overhaul the rules which govern the conduct of ministers.
The ministerial code - which will be published by the end of the year Mr Swinney said - will allow independent advisers to initiate investigations into the conduct of ministers, as opposed to requiring the First Minister to call for a probe.
"I want my Government to set the highest standard of propriety and integrity," he said.
"I want trust to be at the heart of our relationship with the people of Scotland."
'Threadbare programme'
Outgoing Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said the financial pressures faced by the Government are due to the "SNP choices".
He said: "What we are getting now, because of this financial mismanagement, is a threadbare programme for government published today."
Mr Ross continued: "This was John Swinney's big chance ... has he really waited 25 years to deliver that speech?"
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the First Minister had failed to deliver a promised "great relaunch".
He also criticised the lack of any mention of drugs deaths, accusing the SNP of "simply running down the clock" until the next election.