Programme for Government 2025-26

Programme for Government priorities

Social security

• Mitigate the two-child limit at the earliest possible opportunity through Social Security Scotland.
• Increase the Scottish Child Payment to £40 before the end of the current Parliament.
• Target additional support through the Scottish Child Payment to families affected by the Young Parent Penalty.
• Increase funding for income-maximisation services, with targeted investment in services which are best able to reach priority families.

Education and training

• Increase the School Clothing Grant, and the income threshold for accessing this, in line with inflation, and ensure that eligible families are auto enrolled.
• Extend free school meals to all primary school pupils and commit to introducing universal free school meals for all pupils in secondary schools.
• Support single parents into training, education and sustainable, family friendly employment, which pays the Real Living Wage, through specialist employability support and actions to reduce inequalities in the labour market.

Care

• Accelerate progress towards expanding universal childcare to one and two-year-olds and actions to create a system of funded school age childcare, whilst committing to a more radical childcare ambition including the choice of up to 50 hours of ELC.
• Introduce a new National Outcome on valuing and investing in care, and all those who provide it.

Tax powers

• Use the Scottish Parliament’s devolved tax powers to generate more revenue in Scotland to fund action on poverty and inequality, while investing in care, and tackling the climate crisis.

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