Looking to the 2025/26 Programme for Government: Another chance for Young Scots 

Next week, on Tuesday 6^th May, the First Minister of Scotland will announce his Programme for Government. John Swinney MSP will present his plan almost exactly a year out from the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.  

What is the programme for government? 

Delivered almost annually, the Programme for Government is the main policy document the Scottish Government publish. It is the distillation of the First Minister’s promise to Scots and lays out what they intend to achieve in the upcoming year. 

It offers a similar function to the King’s Speech at Westminster, except that it is delivered directly by the First Minister and isn’t voted on by the Parliament.  

Because of the upcoming Holyrood election, this year’s Programme for Government will be published early next week. In announcing his intention to bring forward the programme, John Swinney said that his plan ‘will be laser-focused on delivery.’ We’ll be holding him to account on that. 

What should be in the programme for government?

Breakfast!

On the day the Programme for Government is published, it will have been 1462 days since the current Scottish Government was elected on a manifesto promise to deliver universal breakfast provision for all pupils in primary schools and ASN schools. The Scottish Government have not kept this promise. Instead, there has been 1462 days without a single bowl of porridge or slice of toast. Even the new investment of Bright Start Breakfasts doesn’t offer a strong path to universal delivery. 

In response to a direct question from Magic Breakfast, the First Minister said in January that he saw Bright Start Breakfasts as ‘the start of the measures that [the Scottish Government] can take to expand [school breakfast] provision.’  

We need to see what the next set of measures will be, and they need to be part of this Programme for Government. Otherwise, Scottish children and young people will be left even further behind. 

Their counterparts in England were promised universal breakfast by the UK Government when they were elected last summer. Last week, less than 300 days later, the UK Government launched their Early Adopter Scheme which will draw a direct path to universal provision. 

Scotland needs a path to universalism, and it needs it now. 

What sort of breakfast should be in the programme for government?

A universally offered, hunger focused, barrier-free breakfast! 

School breakfast provision in Scotland must be focused on alleviating hunger as a barrier to learning. The current policy is overly focused on childcare and not child hunger; this means it will not be able to be as effective for young Scots as the Scottish Government intends. Instead, the Scottish Government should take a wider view of breakfast provision. It should be delivered through more than just clubs – with classrooms and playgrounds key to delivery. School breakfasts should focus on eliminating hunger as a barrier to learning and must be offered in a way that doesn’t create stigma. 

School breakfast is a cost-effective policy that can make a long-term difference to child poverty. The benefits to educational outcomes and higher earnings have been proven and speak directly to its effects on supporting children and young people to move out of cyclical poverty. 

As the First Minister prepares to set out his Programme for Government, Magic Breakfast urges him to prioritise a national commitment to universal breakfast provision. Embedding this policy ahead of the election would be a bold and practical step towards his commitment to eradicating child poverty, improving educational attainment, and supporting a fairer, more prosperous Scotland for all.