The Scottish Parliament election is now one week away. Here are some of the key points from the campaign trail today:

• SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon announced her plan for the first 100 days of government, if her party regains power in Holyrood
• Anas Sarwar, the leader of the Scottish Labour party, used a peach-coloured campaign bus to appeal for votes on the regional lists
• The Scottish Conservatives urged people to make the "anti-referendum, pro-UK majority in Scotland count" with their votes
• The Scottish Greens said they wanted free bus travel for young people to be extended to cover rail and ferry journeys
• Leader Willie Rennie said a larger group of Scottish Liberal Democrat MSPs would work to block a second independence referendum

That's all from us for today. We'll be back with more coverage tomorrow.

Why health takes up biggest share of Scotland's budgetpublished at 14:50 British Summer Time 29 April 2021

14:50 BST 29 April 2021

Lisa Summers
BBC Scotland Health Correspondent

For 20 years, devolution has allowed the government in Scotland to be in control of its own policy and spending on health.

It takes up by far the biggest share of the Scottish budget and we spend more per head of population on healthcare than other parts of the UK.

In part that's because we have higher levels of poverty, more people living in remote communities, and an older population.

But despite progressive policies and increased spending, the NHS has still struggled to keep up with demand and improvements in healthy life expectancy have stalled in recent years.

The parties all pledge long-term improvements for the NHS but doctors' representatives urge realism on where they will get the staff.

We already have more doctors and nurses per head of population than other parts of the UK, but there are still key shortages - particularly in areas that will be critical in recovering from the pandemic, like radiology or anaesthetics.

How do parties plan to tackle NHS backlog?published at 14:41 British Summer Time 29 April 2021

14:41 BST 29 April 2021

Lisa Summers
BBC Scotland Health Correspondent

Image source, PA Media

The NHS was struggling to meet key waiting times targets before the pandemic, but lists have grown even longer.

One lady from Glencoe who needs two new hips says her surgeon told her she'll be on a waiting list for six years.

NHS Highland, like other health boards, had to redeploy staff and stop all but urgent operations. They say they can't put a timescale on when they will catch up.

All the parties have promised to tackle the backlog. But the Institute of Fiscal studies analysed the pledges, external of the three biggest parties and says the sums don't add up.

They say the headline figures will not be enough to keep pace with the rise in demand and warn the parties are not being straight with voters about the difficult choices ahead unless there are tax rises or a big loosening of the purse strings by the UK government.

The parties' pledges are:

• The SNP's NHS recovery plan will be backed by at least a 20% increase in frontline spending
• The Tories will target £600m over this year to catch up on work that has been postponed
• Labour say they want specialist elective centres at each major hospital
• The Greens say they will target 11% of health spending to general practice
• The Lib Dems say they will increase diagnosis and treatment centres

To help you decide who you might vote for in the Scottish Parliament election, you can use this policy guide to compare where the parties stand on the key issues.

Air traffic controllers employed by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited say they will ease their industrial action next week so votes can be counted.

Members of the Prospect trade union are currently in dispute with their employer over plans to centralise air traffic control services in Inverness.

The union's negotiator, David Avery, said staff did not want to "impede the delivery of democracy".

"As a result Prospect is lifting its overtime ban for the purposes of allowing votes to be transported once the polls are closed," he said.

"Air traffic controllers normally participate in the election night rota on a voluntary basis and this will still be the case next week."

However, he said the industrial action would continue as normal after the ballot papes have been delivered.

Image source, PA

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie says he is "optimistic" his party will gain seats in next week's election.

He said campaigning on the doorstep had led him to believe there was movement away from the SNP and a shift in the public mood on independence.

"We have got a very powerful message of putting recovery first, a real good package of policies and I think we have tapped into the public mood," he said.

Campaigning during a visit to a distillery in Perthshire on Thursday, Mr Rennie vowed to use a larger group of Lib Dems MSPs to block any attempt by a new government to bring forward the Independence Referendum Bill. Draft legislation was published last month.

BBC's The Social is trying to unpick the big Scottish election questions with the help of political correspondent Rajdeep Sandhu.

Zarah Hill says the thing everyone is "gagging to know" is whether there will be another referendum on independence.

Rajdeep says it's hard to give a definitive answer. You can find out more by watching the video above.

Image source, Reuters

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has published the SNP’s plan, if re-elected, for the first 100 days of a new government.

She is urging people in Scotland to give both votes to the SNP to keep Scotland "safe" in a “knife-edge” election. Campaigning in Aberdeenshire West, Ms Sturgeon said the plan showed that only the SNP has the experience and leadership to guide the country through the pandemic and into recovery. The 100 days plan , externalsets out:

• the key actions to be taken as a new government eases Covid restrictions
• the initial steps an SNP government would take for NHS recovery
• how the SNP would protect jobs
• action to support children and young people
• steps to tackle the climate emergency

Image source, Reuters

'Increasingly fierce' competition for regional list votespublished at 13:15 British Summer Time 29 April 2021

13:15 BST 29 April 2021

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Image source, PA

With one week to go, the election increasingly feels like a contest largely for regional list votes.

Labour have unveiled a campaign bus mocked up to resemble a peach ballot paper (even if it does actually look slightly yellow).

This is unsurprising when you consider that the party has few obvious target seats among the constituencies: they are not in second place in a single seat with a majority under 10%. If they are to make gains on 6 May, they will likely come via the regional lists.

The party they aim to overtake into second place, the Conservatives, are also pouring their efforts into tying down the “party vote”. Douglas Ross has been touring the country with a giant peach ballot paper for weeks.

Image source, PA Media

Even the SNP, which won the lion’s share of constituencies in 2016, is more concerned with its “both votes SNP” strategy than ever before, given fresh competition from the likes of the Alba Party for regional votes.

The 73 constituency contests will still be pivotal when the results are being totted up.

But the campaign is becoming more and more focused on the 56 regional list seats – and competition for them is becoming increasingly fierce as polling day draws nearer.

The Scottish Greens want to extend free bus travel to everyone up to the age of 26 to help provide more opportunities for young people in the next parliament.

The "transformational policy" will come into effect later this year for people under 22, and the party wants to to extend that concession to also cover rail and ferries.

The Greens have also called for increased support for apprenticeships and more funding for colleges so they can expand bursaries for 16 and 17-year-olds and re-introduce part-time courses.

"Many young people have suffered the brunt of the economic effect of coronavirus during the recovery phase, and we need to place their priorities higher up the agenda of the next parliament," said co-leader Patrick Harvie.

Scot Squad chief Cameron Miekelson has grilled the party leaders ahead of the Scottish election.

Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar, the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon, Lorna Slater of the Scottish Greens, Willie Rennie of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Douglas Ross of the Scottish Conservatives were all questioned as part of the BBC Scotland comedy show.

• Watch Scot Squad: The Chief Does Democracy on the BBC Scotland channel at 22:00 tonight, and afterwards on the BBC iPlayer.

Image source, PA Media

Voters in Scotland have just seven days to "save" the country's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and halt SNP plans for a second vote on independence, Douglas Ross has said.

With some polls suggesting the SNP could win a majority of seats, the Scottish Conservative leader warned that the "very future of our country is at stake".

In a speech made in Coldstream, near the Scotland-England border, he urged people who want to keep Scotland in the UK to back his party - even if they have never voted Conservative before.

Mr Ross said the SNP are planning "a fresh attempt to rip apart the United Kingdom" and that with both the Greens and Alex Salmond's new Alba Party also backing independence, the "threat of a nationalist supermajority is very real".

Image source, PA Media

There's one week to go until the Scottish Parliament election.

The vote will decide the government in Scotland for the next five years, so what's it all about?

The BBC’s Noor Abdel-Razik takes a look at what you need to know.

Video by Doug Kennedy and Louise Andrew

Image source, PA

Scottish Labour have unveiled a new peach-coloured campaign bus, as the party asks Scots to give their regional list vote to the party.

Leader Anas Sarwar was in Stirling with "a message of hope and unity", along with a bus which has been designed to look like a peach ballot paper.

Mr Sarwar said the people of Scotland deserve a better opposition than the "game-playing Tories".

He said: "If, like me, you believe we can build a fairer and stronger Scotland than went into lockdown last year, vote for it using your second peach ballot paper.

"While the Tories are playing political games, my only priority is delivering our national recovery from Covid."

Image source, PA

Scottish parties are pledging to tackle climate change, but is it a vote winner?

Listen to the latest podcast from the Podlitical team.

Image source, EPA

Alba Party, external leader Alex Salmond is unveiling a "five point plan" to reduce poverty during a campaign trip to the west of Scotland.

The plan is to:

• Introduce an annual £500 payment to assist half a million low-earnings households
• Increase the Scottish Child Payment to £40 per week for 400,000 children in quarter of a million households
• Extend free school meals to all primary and secondary pupils
• Double the Educational Maintenance Allowance from £30 to £60 for 16-19 year olds in school and college
• Introduce universal access to sports facilities for all children and young people under 18

Mr Salmond says: "These five specific targeted measures represent a step change in addressing poverty and each one will make a real and meaningful difference to the lives of children and families across the country."

Image source, Getty Images

There are a total of 25 parties contesting the Holyrood elections, mostly standing in the regional vote.

They include the five parties who won seats in 2016 - the SNP, Conservatives, Labour, Greens and Lib Dems.

Six other parties are standing enough candidates in every region to qualify for a party election broadcast: the Alba Party; All for Unity; the Freedom Alliance; Reform UK; the Scottish Family Party; and UKIP.

In addition, the Scottish Libertarian Party and the Abolish the Scottish Parliament Party are standing candidates in all eight election regions.

There are also a number of other parties fielding candidates, and 25 people standing who are not affiliated to any party

• Find out more here.

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

With one week to go until the Holyrood election, there seems to be little mystery about the final result - with only the SNP talking about forming a government.

But there are still some key questions to be answered which could have a huge bearing on Scotland's future.

Will the SNP secure an outright majority? Could they build a pro-independence majority with the help of other, smaller parties? Will the Conservatives hold off a Labour challenge in the battle for second place?

What are the factors which could help answer these questions?

These are the five unknowns that could decide the election

We're now into the final seven days of the election campaign and all the leaders of the major parties will be out and about again reinforcing their main messages.

Anas Sarwar will be unveiling Scottish Labour’s second vote battle bus in Stirling a week before next Thursday's poll.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross will be giving a speech in the Scottish Borders, while Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie will meet young people in Glasgow.

Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Willie Rennie will be visiting the Glenturret Distillery in Perthshire and Nicola Sturgeon will publish the SNP's plan, if re-elected, for the first 100 days of a new government as she campaigns in Aberdeenshire West.

The last Debate Night programme before the Holyrood election featured the SNP's Kate Forbes; Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater; Murdo Fraser for the Scottish Conservatives; Labour's Sarah Boyack; and Christine Jardine for the Scottish Lib Dems. They were answering questions from an audience from Greater Glasgow.

You can watch the entire debate here.