Sturgeon orders review of Police Scotland as she unveils government programme

The First Minister made the announcement as she unveiled her final programme for government before the next Holyrood election in May.

She used the set-piece event, the Scottish Parliament's equivalent of the Queen's Speech at Westminster, to unveil eight new pieces of legislation but also to indicate how she planned to use new tax and welfare powers set to be devolved to Holyrood over the next two to three years.

However, she warned she would reject the new powers - which have to be agreed by MSPs - if the financial terms and conditions were unfavourable.

Among the other initiatives she outlined, the First Minister confirmed plans to introduce a new national system of testing in primary schools in an effort to reverse falling standards in reading and arithmetic.

Addressing MSPs on the day they returned to parliament after their nine week summer recess, the First Minister revealed that a new head of the Scottish Police Authority, the force's oversight body, will be appointed later this week.

She said the switch would be accompanied by a review of police governance.

It follows concerns over the relationship between the force and its governing body, after a "turf war" broke out between departing chief constable Sir Stephen House and outgoing SPA head Vic Emery over their responsibilities.

In addition, Police Scotland's new chief constable, due in post in December, will be required to attend "local public scrutiny sessions" in an effort to counter claims the national force has failed to respond to local priorities.

The force's stop and search policy, another source of controversy, will be regulated by a new code of conduct and recommendations from an ongoing inquiry into call handling implemented.

The call handling probe is taking place following the case of Lamara Bell and John Yuill, who died after officers failed to respond to a report of a motorway crash for more than three days.

Ms Sturgeon, who praised the work of Chief Constable House, said the creation of the single force had been "the biggest public service reform for a generation".

"We will continue to improve policing," she told MSPs.

Also on law and order, she announced plans for an Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm Bill, which will create tougher penalties for domestic abuse and outlaw "revenge porn".

With only limited time available to MSPs before the next election, Ms Sturgeon devoted much of her speech to her plans for the next parliament, which, she confirmed will run for five years until 2021 to avoid a clash with the 2020 UK general election.

Addressing the £3billion welfare programme, set to be devolved, she said the new powers would be used to scrap the so-called bedroom tax and to replace the UK Government's Work Programme, which aims to improve job prospects for unemployed people.

The basis of a new system will be set out in a Scottish Social Security Bill soon after the next election, which polls suggest the SNP is on course to win comfortably.

With the Scottish Budget delayed until January, to allow for Chancellor George Osborne's comprehensive spending review in November, Ms Sturgeon made no mention of her plans for income tax either next year, when Holyrood gains limited control over it, or in 2018 when the tax will be almost fully devolved.

But she did confirm that a replacement for air passenger duty, the levy on flights, would be in place by April 2018 and halve the current burden on airlines.

However she said she would only accept the new powers if the fiscal framework underpinning the package was "fair to Scotland".

The threat was a sign of the hard-bargaining facing the Scottish and UK governments over the amount Holyrood will be allowed to borrow and the amount by which its existing block grant from Westminster will be cut when MSPs become more responsible for raising revenue.

On health, the First Minister unveiled plans to "transform primary care," starting with a series of pilot schemes designed to bring the work of GPs, district nurses and health visitors together in an effort to reduce hospital admissions.

One of the eight new bills will give people degenerative diseases, who lose the ability to speak, a legal right to computerised voice equipment.

The move, which has been demanded by motor neurone disease campaigner Gordon Aikman, was applauded by MSPs on all sides.

The First Minister told MSPs: "I am determined that we harness the passion and energy shown in the referendum to tackle the social and economic issues of our times."

Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Labour leader welcomed the programme but added: "The First Minister says that education and health are priorities but her government’s budgets have told a different story."

Ruth Davidson, the Scots Tory leader, accused Ms Sturgeon of squaring up with a fight with the UK Government over Holyrood's new powers and urged her to "focus 100 per cent on the day job".