The Scottish Government will lift the 1% cap on public sector pay, the First Minister has confirmed.

Pay rises have been capped across the public sector since 2013 after it was frozen for two years.

Nicola Sturgeon said the cap had been "necessary" due to the financial constraints her government faced in recent years.

Around 485,000 Scots work in the devolved public sector. A further 57,000 public sector workers work in reserved policy areas and have their salaries set by the UK Government.

Sturgeon told MSPs: "Our nurses, teachers, police officers and firefighters deserve a fairer deal for the future.

"We will, therefore, aim to secure pay rises from next year that are affordable but which also reflect the real-life circumstances our public servants face and the contribution our public services make to the overall prosperity of our country."

Other policies include working towards phasing out diesel and petrol cars by 2032, new legislation to change how schools are governed and presumption against prison sentences shorter than 12 months.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said the Scottish Government must change if it wants to earn back the trust and respect of people in Scotland.

Scottish Labour's interim leader Alex Rowley called for the parliament to use its powers "to pay for a fairer, more equal society and to support our public services".