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John Swinney is vowing to bring about “radical change” to Scotland over the next five years, pledging there will be “significant” reform of the country’s public services.
The Scottish First Minister will set out some of the detail of his plans in his Programme for Government statement to Holyrood on Tuesday, the first day back for MSPs after the summer recess.
But speaking ahead of the keynote address, he said it would be a “decisive and significant moment for the Scottish Parliament”.
The First Minister added: “I think it’s a landmark moment for the Parliament because this will be a Parliament of radical change in Scotland.”
Speaking to the Press Association, Mr Swinney said that Tuesday’s statement would set “both the direction of the government and the style of the government”.
He stated: “It is a very significant and different moment, because I think this represents a moment in which we have to embrace very actively public service reform and that will be at the heart of the programme.”
The Auditor General for Scotland, the country’s public spending watchdog, recently warned ministers that the “devil will be in the detail” when it comes to reforming public services.
The government has already stressed the need for change, as Scotland faces a projected near £5 billion black hole in the budget by the end of the decade.
Mr Swinney accepted: “In the next five-year term there will have to be a significant amount of reform and restructuring of the way in which we organise ourselves in the country and how we deliver public services.”
He added: “I want to ensure we improve public services, to improve the lives of people in Scotland.
“And we have to be prepared to reform to do exactly that.”
The First Minister said that themes in his Programme for Government would be “around early intervention and prevention” as well as about “making sure that people are right at the centre of our public services”.
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