{"id":756738,"date":"2026-09-01T14:38:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T14:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/756738\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T14:38:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T14:38:19","slug":"john-swinney-to-cut-scottish-health-boards-from-14-to-two-and-roll-out-2-bus-cap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/756738\/","title":{"rendered":"John Swinney to cut Scottish health boards from 14 to two and roll out \u00a32 bus cap"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/core\/website\/assets\/static\/news\/incident-types\/light-mode\/analysis.77b314ef10.svg\" alt=\"Analysis\" height=\"2.5rem\" width=\"9.8125rem\" draggable=\"false\" class=\"ssrcss-h608ny-ContributorImageComponent e2hr5uu0\"\/>How public service reform will be the &#8216;defining task&#8217; of this parliamentary termpublished at 14:56 BST<\/p>\n<p>14:56 BST<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-qs9kpv-Contributor etflsgg2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/8005f13d-1a56-4158-886c-bc61d9ee66a5.png.webp\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" class=\"ssrcss-egie1y-Image edrdn950\"\/>Glenn Campbell<br \/>BBC Scotland Political Editor<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">John Swinney is on deadline to deliver on his promises<br \/>\nfor the first 100 days of a reelected SNP government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">That is why the Scottish government has already published<br \/>\ndraft legislation to cap food prices on a basket of essential items in large<br \/>\nsupermarkets. This is for consultation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">We should also expect news of when the \u00a32 bus fare cap<br \/>\nalready operating in the Highlands is to be extended across west central<br \/>\nScotland. This could take effect as early as next week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The first minister should also outline the Scottish<br \/>\ngovernment\u2019s plans for public service reform.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">This should be the centrepiece of the programme because<br \/>\nministers have already described it as the \u201cdefining task\u201d of this term at<br \/>\nHolyrood. There\u2019s even a cabinet minister for this specific task.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">We know that the Scottish government wants to<br \/>\nsignificantly reduce the number of health boards and other public bodies under<br \/>\nits control.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The intention is to save some money and make service<br \/>\ndelivery more efficient and more personalised.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Expanding childcare, tackling NHS waiting times and<br \/>\nmeasures to address what the first minister has described as the \u201cepidemic\u201d of<br \/>\nviolence against women and girls are also expected.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Everything that is proposed comes at a time when<br \/>\nfinancial watchdogs are warning that public spending at current levels is<br \/>\nunsustainable, so while today\u2019s statement is not a budget it should acknowledge<br \/>\nthe need to keep public finances stable. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How public service reform will be the &#8216;defining task&#8217; of this parliamentary termpublished at 14:56 BST 14:56 BST&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":756739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-756738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/756739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}