Here are the key points from a busy day in the Holyrood chamber:

• John Swinney said the Scottish Parliament is “facing some of its toughest tests” in its 25-year history as he delivered his first Programme for Government as first minister.
• Swinney said eradicating child poverty was “first and foremost” in his priorities as he announced a £1bn investment in affordable, high-quality early learning and child care.
• The first minister announced a £600m investment in affordable housing, plus another £100m in building about 2,800 mid-market rent homes.
• Rent controls will also be progressed at stage two of the Housing Bill.
• Two green freeports and two new investment zones will be created, with the Techscaler startup programme expanded to make Scotland “attractive to investors”.
• Swinney announced work to dual the A9 between Tomatin and Moy would begin before the end of the year.
• Funding to reduce NHS waiting lists and provide 210,000 more planned outpatient appointments will be increased, while £120m will be provided to each health board to support mental health service improvements.
• Creative Scotland will be able to keep operating its Open Fund after being allocated new resources.
• The Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan will be published shortly, while the infrastructure to support the Acorn Carbon transport and storage project at Grangemouth will be delivered.
• A Heat in Buildings Bill will be brought forward off the back of the review of heat standard for new build homes.
• Independent advisers will be able to launch standards investigations into whether MSPs breached the ministerial code, rather than solely the FM.
• There were no announcements on drug harm policy or a ban on conversion therapy in Swinney’s speech - which drew criticism from opposition parties.
• Douglas Ross argued the SNP had lost control of Scotland's budget, while Anas Sarwar accused the government of having no vision or plan.
• A total of 14 bills will be introduced during the 2024-25 parliamentary year.

Eradicating child poverty is the Scottish government's "first and foremost priority", First Minister John Swinney has said as he announced his spending plans for the next year.

His inaugural programme for government came after his finance secretary announced £500m of cuts.

Although Mr Swinney said his administration was facing "incredibly challenging" financial conditions, he vowed to invest £1bn in childcare, reduce NHS backlogs and deliver public service reform.

Opposition leaders accused the first minister of being "out of ideas".

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland's children's charities give a mixed response to John Swinney's Programme for Government.

Children 1st's Chief Executive Mary Glasgow welcomes the Scottish government’s commitment to tackling child poverty, but is "deeply concerned that the drastic cuts to public spending will throw many children and families already in crisis over the edge".

She says: “The first minister’s recognition of whole family support is positive but lacks clarity and specific plans to make this a reality, with resource to match need.

"We know that at present vital family support services are being lost."

Meanwhile Fiona King from Save the Children says she is "devastated for the 240,000 children in poverty across Scotland whose voices just don’t feature loudly enough in today’s Programme for Government".

She says there are no new policies that will accelerate progress towards ending child poverty.

James Cook
Scotland editor

The Scottish government has ditched an unfulfilled commitment to expand free school meals to all primary school pupils.

The promise to expand eligibility to all pupils in primary six and seven was made in last year's programme for government.

This year's document says funding will be targeted at expanding the benefit only to P6 and P7 pupils whose families are in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment.

A Scottish government source said the intention remained to expand the policy to all pupils when financial circumstances allowed, although the source was unable to say when that might happen.

Image source, Getty Images

Plans for a Natural Environment Bill has been welcomed with "cautious optimism" by charities.

Stop Climate Chaos Scotland says while there are welcome commitments like promises in clean heating and a plan to reduce car use, more detail is needed to decide "whether they will meaningfully benefit people and the planet".

Charity WWF Scotland also welcomed the inclusion of the Heat in Buildings bill but added it is a "hammer blow" to learn funds raised from Scotwind, intended to be invested in tackling the climate crisis, is to be "wiped out".

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) says the "highly anticipated" Natural Environment Bill will allow the Scottish government to set legally-binding targets to halt and reverse nature's decline.

Aedán Smith from RSPB Scotland says: "Our natural environment needs action starting now and lasting into the future, so this crucial piece of legislation is a significant milestone which represents the level of ambition required to turn things around.”

The quadruple U-turn on arts fundingpublished at 17:12 British Summer Time 4 September

17:12 BST 4 September

Pauline McLean
BBC Scotland Arts Correspondent

It’s been described as a quadruple U-turn. A £6.6m grant which was taken away, given back, taken away and given back again.

One MSP described it as a government game of “hokey cokey”.

It was the final straw for Scotland’s arts sector, who used the curtain calls at the end of the Edinburgh Festivals to warn the wider public what the cuts would actually mean.

The hashtag #noartwithoutartists quickly took hold, and Equity called a rally which is still scheduled to take place outside parliament tomorrow.

For this is the smallest of victories, a U-turn on a funding pot which is already vastly over-subscribed.

And the Open Fund is just one of the funding streams which are being gradually eroded by standstill funding, inflation and the cost of living.

Without a substantial investment in arts funding, many organisations face a bleak future, as they have been warning for years.

The Scottish government continues to pledge an extra £100m for the sector by 2028-29, but it comes with a caveat.

Creative Scotland must undergo a review of its funding process to “ensure its remit and functions remain relevant”.

Details have yet to be revealed, but it’s unlikely to happen before the new multi-year funding process begins in October - which is itself the product of a strategic review.

The arts funding body Creative Scotland has had funding reinstated for the second time.

The organisation says it was forced to close its Open Fund for Individual Artists after the Scottish government withdrew a grant of £6m for the second time.

First Minister John Swinney told parliament this afternoon that the resources required would be made available, along with money for a second fund for youth music which was also closed.

Creative Scotland is also to undergo a review, the first since it was established in 2010.

Ministers had faced a backlash from artists – including some of the country’s top musicians – after Creative Scotland announced the Open Fund for Individuals would be closed to new applications due to uncertainty over government cash.

The first minister told parliament the arts body would receive the cash it needs to continue the Open Fund for Individuals.

Creative Scotland CEP Iain Munro says: "“We welcome today’s confirmation of £6.6m, originally committed to Creative Scotland by the Scottish government at the start of this financial year, reinstating budget removed in the previous year.

“We continue to see unprecedented levels of demand for the Open Fund for Individuals and will process the high volume of applications we have received.

"With the budget now confirmed, we will work to re-open this fund."

Tenants union Living Rent has responded to Swinney’s commitment to pushing through plans for rent controls.

They said the measures “cannot come soon enough,” but warned the Scottish government “must not water down” the bill by making certain properties exempt.

Their national campaign chair, Ruth Gilbert, says: "John Swinney’s recommitment to rent controls is a huge relief for the tens of thousands of Scottish tenants who are trapped by high rents and poor quality housing.

“In the midst of a national housing emergency, this government must listen to tenants and the majority of Scottish voters, and ignore landlord lobbyists. They need to work quickly to introduce strong, effective rent controls that bring rents down.”

Image source, PA

Reaction is now coming in on the Programme for Government, with criticism from the Children's and Young People's Commissioner Nicola Killean.

Though she welcomes child poverty measures, she says the government has dropped its focus on genuine education reform warns it is putting children's rights at risk.

She also cautions the Scottish government that by not tackling systemic issues within education, it undermines its efforts to tackle child poverty.

She says: “Children across the country have told the Scottish government time and time again that their experience of education is falling short."

She added the "staggering lack of commitment to addressing children's unmet needs in education will stop this succeeding".

Image source, Scottish Parliament TV

Alex Cole-Hamilton says the Scottish government has "played fast and loose" with the money of the Scottish people and "squandered so much of our potential".

The Scottish Liberal Democrats leader says the finance secretary made it clear that proceeds from Scottish wind "plugged the hole they have created" this year, and asks "what on earth plugs that gap next year?".

Cole-Hamilton says: "The first minister likes to talk about conducting politics in a more grown up fashion. Well, in grown-up politics, you have to listen to what the country is telling you.

"The SNP were humbled at the ballot box and people are speaking - it's now self evident his party is incapable of listening."

Ministers hope for UK-wide approach on conversion therapy banpublished at 16:39 British Summer Time 4 September

16:39 BST 4 September

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

The Scottish government is still going to work up legislation to ban conversion therapy, but ultimately may not introduce it.

The papers accompanying the programme confirm that the government hopes a UK-wide approach can be found, with the new Labour government at Westminster taking the lead.

However, Scottish ministers want to have their own bill in their back pocket to bring forward “should a UK wide approach not be achievable”.

Image source, Getty Images

Lorna Slater goes on to criticise the omission of a bill to ban conversion therapy in the programme.

She says Scotland-specific legislation to ban the practice was recommended to be brought forward two years ago, but nothing has materialised so far.

Slater says the government has the mandate to bring forward a ban on the “cruel and inhumane torture” now.

She demands that legislation is in place before the next election, adding: “Now is the time to show boldness, not to cower to the reactionary forces of the right”.

The exclusion of a conversion therapy bill has also been criticised by the LGBTI charity the Equality Network.

Its policy co-ordinator Erin Lux said they were concerned that work done towards the bill would be lost if the Scottish government waits on a Westminster equivalent.

She said: “The highest priority, of course, must be that the best possible legislation is implemented that will protect LGBT+ people from, to quote from the Scottish government’s introduction to the consultation on a Scottish bill, ‘damaging and destructive acts that violate the human rights of those that undergo them’.

“The Scottish government would surely have far more influence and ability to end these practices in the most comprehensive and effective way if it chose to legislate here in Scotland.”

The first minister confirmed Scottish government plans to introduce 14 bills over the course of the 2024-25 parliamentary year including:

• Adults with Incapacity Bill
• The annual Budget Bill
• Building Safety Levy Bill
• Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) Bill
• Community Wealth Building Bill
• Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews Bill
• Crofting Bill
• Heat in Buildings Bill
• Leases (Automatic continuation etc.) Bill
• Misogyny Bill
• Natural Environment Bill
• Post-School Education Reform Bill
• Prisoners Bill
• UEFA EURO 2028 Bill

David Henderson
BBC Scotland Correspondent

John Swinney wants to show he's business friendly, and serious about boosting prosperity.

So he's reeled off the measures he thinks will grow Scotland's economy.

That includes affordable housing, better infrastructure and efforts to attract more foreign investment.

He pledge to increase support for innovators and entrepreneurs, to make Scotland a "start-up & scale-up nation".

There's to be a national approach to skills planning, and a renewed effort to create "tailored migration routes" - all designed to help Scottish employers get the staff they need.

What's notable was his caution on the move to Net Zero and decarbonising the economy.

That's a change of tone from when the Greens were partners in government.

He talked of the need for "careful stewardship" of the oil and gas sector.

He emphasised its big contribution to the economic health of Scotland.

All in all, he gave the impression of wanting to be "pro-business".

But is it enough to get Scotland's economy growing faster? Time will tell.

Kevin Keane
BBC Scotland environment correspondent

The first minister said everything he's announced today will be rendered ineffective without addressing the twin crises of climate change and nature loss.

Yet his actions don't entirely match the urgency of his words.

Two of the most important government-funded actions in this area are woodland creation and peatland restoration and yet he seems to be watering down existing commitments.

Back in 2020 ministers said restoring peat bogs - which lock in vast amounts of planet warming carbon dioxide - needed to be "far higher" than the then target of 20,000 hectares a year.

Today, John Swinney promised just 10,000 hectares of restoration annually.

At the same time the Scottish government raised the annual woodland creation target from 12,000 hectares to 18,000 by the current financial year. Trees are a vital and effective way of using nature to such carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere yet today he promised just 10,000 hectares annually.

Confirmation of a long-awaited Natural Environment Bill setting legally binding targets for protecting nature will be welcomed, particularly after a fund for restoring habitats was plundered to plug the funding gap.

But promising new targets in the longer term, while appearing to renege on existing ones, may somewhat temper those celebrations.

Image source, Scottish Parliament TV

Lorna Slater is up next for the Scottish Greens and says, while the Programme for Government is “billed as prioritising future generations", it does anything but.

She says the slashing of public spending is “selling out the future of our young people” and says the shelving of free school meals for all primary school children will only make child poverty worse.

Slater says drawing down money from ScotWind in yesterday’s budget update was tantamount to “spending the last of the pot” and accuses the Scottish government of slashing net zero funding to give “handouts to big business”.

She says the Scottish Greens have “reluctantly accepted” the 2030 net zero target is now out of reach, but only because repeated SNP governments failed to make changes needed to drive down emissions.

"It's getting clearer by the day that Scotland needs change," insists Sarwar.

The Scottish Labour leader goes on to say the government must be honest about the scale of the challenges it faces.

The Programme for Government has failed, argues Sarwar.

He accuses the SNP of beging "a party that has lost its way" and of being incompetent.

He says: "Scots are sick of it."

Image source, Scottish Parliament TV

It's now Anas Sarwar's turn to speak and he begins by saying "we were promised that this was meant to be the great relaunch".

The Scottish Labour leader argues: "Instead we have more of the same, the same sticky plaster approach, the same rehashed announcements and the same level of denial from the third first minister in three years."

He says Scotland needed a Programme for Government that faced the challenges facing the country.

"We have an SNP government with no vision, no strategy and no plan," he says.

Lynsey Bews
BBC Scotland political correspondent

John Swinney's first Programme for Government is being delivered in the shadow of hundreds of millions of pounds of cuts this year, and warnings of more budget pain to come.

The first minister was keen to stress his four big priorities - eradicating child poverty, tackling climate change, growing the economy and improving public services.

But there's not much cash to spend on big new interventions.

And with only a few brand new pieces of legislation being brought forward - Mr Swinney is already being accused of lacking vision by his political opponents.

Ross says there was no mention of action on drugs and alcohol harm during Swinney’s speech.

He says it is “not a priority for Swinney or his government” a month after statistics confirmed 1,172 people in Scotland died as a result of drug-related harm in 2023, an increase of 121 on the previous year.

He described the omission as “shameful” and accused the SNP government of “taking its eye of the ball”.

He calls it “another wasted opportunity”.