Scottish Government increasingly centralising planning power

The First Minister said: “Improving school attainment is arguably the single most important objective in this Programme for Government.

She announced new national, standardised assessments would be brought in for pupils in primaries one, four and seven, as well as for youngsters in the third year of secondary school – with the tests to be trialled in some schools next year before being rolled out across the country in 2017.

Scottish and UK ministers have yet to decide by how much Scotland’s block grant from Westminster – calculated using the Barnett formula – should be reduced in return for getting new tax-raising powers.

The First Minister’s Programme for Government has been welcomed as a “bold, ambitious and progressive” vision for a stronger Scotland – which will build on the SNP’s record of delivery and success in government over the last eight years.

“So they will not increase teacher workload – indeed, as a government, we are mindful of the need to reduce bureaucracy so that teachers can focus on what they do best: helping children to learn”.

Ms Dugdale said: ” The First Minister is the most powerful woman in British politics today, she’s had a year to get used to the job, and it’s time she started wielding that power to build a fairer nation”. It “demonstrates how enduring values – a belief in enterprise, a faith in the value of education, a commitment to fairness and solidarity, and a passion for democratic engagement – can be applied to make Scotland a fairer and more prosperous country”.

National, standardised tests, will be introduced to Scottish primary schools, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

“The Programme for Government also ensures further support for the kinship carers who do such vital work in every community in Scotland – guaranteeing that they will receive the same level of support as foster carers – and sets out plans to tackle the gender pay gap, extending the duty on public authorities to publish information on pay”.

The First Minister also promised to implement any recommendations from a review into police call handling ordered in the wake of the M9 scandal, when the first call from a member of the public reporting the crashed auto was ignored.

However, detailed proposals on the planned Scottish Social Security Bill and how she intends to use new income tax powers will not be published until later this year. “We need an inquiry into the operations of Police Scotland”.

In a move likely to alarm councils in northern England already anxious by Scotland’s financial muscle, Sturgeon said: “We intend to make Scotland the best place to do business in the UK”.

She hinted that there could be a constitutional row with the UK government over her administration’s future budgets under the new Scotland bill because the Treasury was signalling in private that Edinburgh’s direct funding could be cut.