SNP SUCCESSES

SCRAPPING OF BRIDGE TOLLS

What started under Labour finished with the SNP as the country’s last remaining crossing charges ended.

FREE PRESCRIPTIONS

This policy ended what the SNP called the “tax on ill-health” to allow universal access to key treatments even as charges in England rose.

GENDERBALANCED CABINET

The Scottish Government had the first 50:50 team in the UK.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

This law came into force as the year ended, with couples in existing civil partnerships also able to convert these to marriages if desired.

VOTES FOR 16 AND 17-YEAR-OLDS

Foreign nationals with leave to remain, including refugees, were also covered by subsequent extensions to the voting franchise for Scottish Parliament and local elections.

FISCAL FRAMEWORK NEGOTIATIONS

John Swinney led negotiations with the UK Government, sealing the deal around the devolution of new tax powers to Holyrood.

QUEENSFERRY CROSSING

The £1.35bn bridge across the Forth came in under budget and was opened by the Queen.

MINIMUM UNIT PRICING

This passed despite concerted lobbying from the drinks industry and got the country talking about its relationship with alcohol.

SCOTTISH CHILD PAYMENT

Welcomed by antipoverty campaigners, this new benefit is the only one of its kind in the UK and this year doubles to £20 per week, per child.

FREE PERIOD PRODUCTS

Scotland was the first country in the world to make sanitary products free to the women and girls who need them.

THE EXTENSION OF FREE CHILDCARE

All eligible children can receive at least 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare in a move worth around £4,500 per child, per year to families

FREE BUS TRAVEL TO UNDER-22S

All resident young Scots can apply for passes in the implementation of a policy agreed with the Scottish Greens