Sturgeon planned ‘radical’ move to scrap prescription charges earlier

Cabinet papers show then health secretary pushed to accelerate key manifesto pledge

Nicola Sturgeon wanted to abolish prescription charges two years ahead of schedule, with the then health secretary arguing that a “radical approach” that avoided the “bureaucracy” of a gradual phasing out would win public support, according to newly released papers.

The eventual abolition of the charges was one of the flagship policies of the SNP’s first term in power. The party’s vow to gradually phase out the fees before scrapping them altogether by 2012 was central to the manifesto that helped it to election victory, but after the Welsh Assembly moved to abolish charges, it brought forward the timetable to 2011.

But it has now emerged that the government wanted to do away with the fees as early as 2010, with Ms Sturgeon, who was also deputy first minister at the time, reasoning that the move would send a “clear signal” about the SNP’s commitment to the issue.

A draft paper presented to a meeting of the Scottish cabinet in August 2007, just three months after the SNP swept to power, saw Ms Sturgeon argue the case that the original policy commitment to extend prescription charge exemption