First Minister John Swinney eyes Bute House policy cull

Certainly, with the collapse of the power sharing deal it is suspected that with the appointment of Kate Forbes as Deputy First Minister and the First Minister leading a minority administration some policy commitments may fall by the wayside.

Mr Yousaf's administration shelved several pieces of legislation which were championed by the Greens after they met public controversy or were blocked from the UK Government.

Perhaps, the most high profile policy was the Gender Recognition Reform Bill - which was intended to make the process easier for trans gender people to change their legal gender. Passed by Holyrood, it was initially blocked by the Scottish Secretary Alister Jack on the basis that it would impact on equality laws across the UK. 

Mr Yousaf's government took the UK Government to court on the matter but lost its case, and later then decided against an appeal. At the end of last week Mr Swinney did not say whether, if Labour won the general election, expected this year, he would ask the new government to lift the block.

A second Holyrood policy to be paused was the deposit return scheme. 

The drinks containers recycling scheme was the responsibility of the former Scottish Greens minster Lorna Slater but ran into problems relating to cost fears from retailers and drinks producers. There was also concern over how it would operate alongside a slightly different type of scheme to be introduced later by the UK Government.

First Minister John Swinney with his predecessors Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon. Will he keep all there policies or focus on the fundamentals? Photo: Andrew Milligan/PA.

Mr Yousaf put the initiative - which had been intended to include glass as well as plastic bottles - on hold in June last year with Ms Slater saying she had "no option" but to delay it until October 2025 at the earliest after the UK Government said glass must be excluded. 

In a statement at Holyrood, she blamed the UK Government, but business groups said the Scottish Government's scheme was "simply unworkable".

As with the GRRB, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack who intervened over the policy arguing a separate Scottish scheme would erect trade barriers with the rest of the UK and push up costs for Scottish consumers. 

The recycling deposit return scheme was paused. 

A third policy - also much championed by the Greens - that fell by the wayside was a plan to extend highly protected marine areas which would have led to greater restrictions on fishing off Scottish coasts.

SNP Net Zero Secretary Ms McAllan confirmed to MSPs in a statement on the last day of term at Holyrood in June 2023, that the policy to designate a least 10% of waters by 2026, was no longer being pursued by the government.

Under the Bute House Agreement, which sealed the co-operation deal between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Greens, a commitment was made to “add to the existing MPA network by designating a world-leading suite of HPMAs covering at least 10% of our seas”.

READ MORE: Why is John Swinney striving to be a Holyrood peacemaker?

But the plan was met with an outcry among fishing communities with the band Skipinnish performing a protest song "The Clearances Again" against it warning it would severely damage the inshore fishing industry and local economies that rely on it.

Now with the Bute House Agreement terminated and with the SNP under new First Minister John Swinney and Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes in charge of a minority government what lies ahead for other legislative plans? Will other policies under consideration be dropped too?

One insider told the Herald on Sunday that there may be a re-focusing and slimming down of priorities.

"It will be about competent delivery," they said.

"The government will be looking at what's important to voters about and what ministers can get through parliament given they haven't got a majority," they said.

With those aims in mind it's likely that ministers and their advisors will be examining recent opinion polls which show the economy, the NHS, education and housing are the major concerns of Scots.

Here are some of the plans put forward by the Scottish Government which ministers will be examining closely and deciding whether to progress, water down or put on hold.

Plan to create a new National Park
The shared policy programme between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Greens in Holyrood committed to designating  "at least one new National Park by the end of this parliamentary session".

The plan was driven by the former Scottish Greens minister Lorna Slater and five bids have been proposed - Tay Forest, Galloway, the Borders, Loch Awe and Lochaber National Parks

Supporters of the plan say the designation of a new national park could foster sustainable development and tourism, enhance and protect nature and create local employment in the chosen area.

However, opponents point out national parks are expensive to run and benefits could be delivered much more cheaply by existing organisations.

Heat in Buildings Bill
The Scottish Government have consulted on plans to decarbonise how homes and other properties are heated in a bid to reduce carbon emissions and meet the main climate change target to reach net zero by 2045.

Former Scottish Greens minister Patrick Harvie was in charge of the legislation under the direction of net zero secretary Mairi McAllan with the government aiming to have the bill passed by May 2026.

However, it has been met with considerable criticism.

Earlier this year, the independent government advisors the regulatory review group, headed by Professor Russel Griggs, made a highly critical assessment of the proposals which would mean replacing gas boilers with heat pumps or other green energy devices, warning the current timetable is 'unrealistic' and that households risk becoming vulnerable to 'rogue traders' unless action is taken.

The 2021 Heat in Buildings Strategy stated: "We must rapidly scale up deployment of zero emissions heating systems so that by 2030 over 1 million homes...are converted to zero emissions heat."

Mr Harvie dropped the one million target when he unveiled a draft strategy last November and instead said private rented homes should meet new minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) by 2028, while owner occupied homes by 2033. It said these should be achieved by improving the insulation of walls, windows, roof, or floor of a property.

However, it is unclear whether all properties will need to replace their gas and oil boilers with heat pumps or other green energy heating appliances and what the cost to individual households will be.

Last August Ms Forbes - the new DFM - raised concerns about the expectation that under Mr Harvie's plan households would face significant costs in installing green heating systems.

She said: "Fuel poverty is higher in the Highlands and Islands than anywhere else, we have more off-grid properties than anywhere else.

"And there are suggestions, for instance, that we are going to penalise people who are off-grid on the basis of the nature of their boiler. Perhaps in a different world people might have excess cash to do this."

Ms Forbes has also been critical of new regulations introduced at the beginning of April meaning that new build homes cannot install wood burning stoves. Last week former SNP health secretary Alex Neil said on X: "The Scottish Government should immediately introduce a statutory instrument to reverse this stupid rule on wood burning stoves."

The Scottish Government told the Herald on Sunday the minister for climate action Gillian Martin would be meeting the RRG to discuss its advice. A spokesman said the proposals for the bill drew almost 1,700 responses, which are currently being considered.

He said: “As a result of actions set out by the New Deal for Business Group, a newly established Regulatory Review Group is already engaging with business on a range of policies and provided helpful input. We will continue to engage with them on this and other matters, and Minister for Climate Action Gillian Martin will be meeting with the regulatory review group shortly to discuss its advice.”

Rent controls
The Housing Bill introduced by Mr Harvie in March would allow Scottish ministers to create rent control areas – capping costs for tenants.

It would also place a duty on local councils to carry out assessments within their areas on the state of the private rented sector, making recommendations to ministers about the imposition of rent controls.

The Bill – which was published against the backdrop of four local authorities declaring a housing emergency – does not specify particular controls which could be placed on landlords, but it does state rises would be capped during and in between tenancies.

While strongly backed by tenants groups who praised for the bill's aim of reducing homelessness and improving rights, real estate experts have warned that “the Bill in its current form will worsen the housing crisis” by reducing housing supply.

Rettie, the estate agent and consultancy, said that the Bill “unless it undergoes significant amendments, is unlikely to provide any substantial assistance in solving the housing crisis in Scotland, which is predominantly one of supply and availability”.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Property Federation, whose members include estate agents and developers, say that Scotland is at risk of losing out on £3 billion of investment in housing as investors look to build in other parts of the UK where there is less policy uncertainty.

Ban on conversion therapy
The Scottish Government launched a public consultation in January on planned laws to ban conversion therapy for sexuality or gender in Scotland.

Unveiling the proposals the then equalities minister Emma Roddick said conversion practices "have absolutely no place in Scotland".

“Conversion therapy” is used as an umbrella term to describe interventions of a wide-ranging nature, all of which have in common the belief that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI) can and should be changed. 

Such practices aim (or claim to aim) at changing people from gay, lesbian or bisexual to heterosexual and from trans or gender diverse to the gender they were born as.

Depending on the context, the term is used for a multitude of practices and methods.

An article published by the European Parliament says that LGBTI conversion 'therapies' are practices that can be defined as 'any treatment aimed at changing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity'. 

Ways to implement them include psychotherapy, medication, electroshock therapy, aversive treatments and exorcism. An alternative term used to describe these practices is sexual orientation and gender identity-expression change efforts.

They can bring about suicidal thoughts but also permanent physical harm, suicide attempts, depression, anxiety, shame, self-hatred and loss of faith. 

The Scottish Government's consultation closed on April 2 with a bill expected to be introduced later.

However, the proposed ban raised concerns from those who fear attempts to counsel people struggling with their identity could be seen as conversion therapy.

There is also concern among some LGBT campaigners that the Scottish Government will row back on its pledge.

On Friday Mr Swinney sought to assure his party's LGBT wing, Out for Independence that he was committed to a ban on conversion practices.

A pilot for juryless trials 
A pilot for juryless trials for rape under the Scottish Government's Victims and Witnesses Bill is another policy were there has been much controversy over.

Most of the legal profession is opposed to the plan with lawyers threatening to boycott the pilot ministers want to start in 2028.

A number of SNP MSPs including Ms Forbes rebelled on the legislation when its general principles were voted on last month. The bill is continuing its parliamentary journey.