The Scottish Government will release its Programme for Government on 6 May 2025 which will lay out its priorities for the coming year.

The Programme for Government (PfG) is a written document published every year by the Scottish Government outlining the  actions the government plans to carry out in the coming year. In previous years, this has included announcing the government’s core priorities, as well as the Legislative Programme which sets out the bills due to be introduced over the next year.

Previous PfG’s, including last year’s, have been released in September; this year’s release was brought forward to, as stated in an announcement from First Minister John Swinney, ensure Scotland is prepared as possible for an uncertain future. It will also give the current Scottish Government a full year to deliver on their promises ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections in May 2026.

Why is this one important for the children’s sector?

In his address, the First Minister acknowledged the country (and the world at large) is facing extremely arduous times, mentioning in particular Brexit, Covid, the energy price spike following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and inflation. The First Minister stressed the importance of responding to the challenges Scotland faces on the global stage, and the urgency with which it must do so.

Pertaining particularly to the children’s sector, it is anticipated that the long expected Promise bill will be included in the Legislative Programme. The bill is extremely important to the sector, and to Scotland’s children and young people, as it will lay into law the plans and policies already introduced, and will simplify and conflate existing laws that currently clash, thereby streamlining the process of keeping the promise.

What do we expect to be included?

Last year’s PfG had the eradication of child poverty front and centre, and we expect that the Scottish Government will continue to treat this as one of its core priorities. The other previous priorities were tackling the climate emergency, ensuring high quality sustainable public services, and growing the Scottish economy; it is reasonably probable this year’s core priorities will be similar in theme.

The First Minister’s announcement placed a spotlight on economic issues, therefore the PfG will likely address the current tumultuous global economic situation. This may well include the sundry tariffs put in place by the current US president, which The First Minister described as ‘economic headwinds… blowing strong across the Atlantic’, and declared the need for an ‘immediate and measured’ response. The tempestuous economic situation has certainly had an impact on Scotland’s children sector, with the Scottish Government thus far responding with debilitating funding cuts for the third sector, so the First Minister’s hope that Scotland will ‘come out of that storm a great deal stronger’ will very much depend on a restructuring of the current budget priorities.

Potential challenges

While the PfG does outline the government’s plans and ambitions, it should be read with thoughts of realistic delivery in mind. For instance, while the children’s sector would undoubtedly welcome seeing the Promise bill featured in the Legislative Programme section of the PfG, the challenges being created by inadequate government funding across the sector would blunt the effectiveness of any legislative change.

And while a reprise of some of the priorities from last year’s PfG is possible, a mercurial global state makes it difficult to say for certain what ultimately will be necessary to be included. The First Minister said he intends to ensure Scotland is as prepared as possible for an uncertain future, and stated his ambition for a Scotland that is ‘wealthier, fairer, and more resilient’, and ‘united, prepared, and determined.’ How exactly the Scottish Government intends to meet these ambitions, Children in Scotland, along with the rest of the children’s sector and Scottish society as a whole, looks forward to finding out on Tuesday 6 May.