NICOLA Sturgeon's first programme for government has been broadly welcomed, with initiatives aimed at tackling poverty while boosting the economy winning support from industry chiefs, charities, unions and churches.

However, the First Minister was warned that she must back up her rhetoric with action over the coming months, if she is to retain the support of civic Scotland. Unison and The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) were among the bodies to back the measures outlined at Holyrood yesterday, with only proposed land reforms sparking a significant degree of controversy.

Ms Sturgeon was also challenged to formally sign up to a campaign for equal gender representation across Scottish public life, after she unveiled Scotland's first cabinet including an equal number of men and women last week and yesterday asked businesses to commit to equality in boardrooms by 2020.

Unison, Scotland's largest trade union, backed the First Minister's programme with a commitment to increasing NHS funding, measures to encourage businesses to pay the living wage and steps to mitigate the impact of Westminster's welfare reform package proving popular with left-leaning organisations.

However, while it backed a review of local government finance and said it was in favour of a progressive property tax, the union said it was disappointed with Ms Sturgeon's pledge to stick by the SNP manifesto pledge to retain the council tax freeze until at least 2016.

Mike Kirby, Unison's Scottish secretary, said: "This freeze hits the most vulnerable people, those who need public services the most. We need a fundamental reform of how we pay for local services."

The Evangelical Alliance Scotland, which claims to represent two million evangelical Christians across the UK, welcomed the "aspiration" within the programme for Government, with human trafficking, domestic abuse, low pay and land reform policies winning praise.

Meanwhile, The FSB said the approach outlined by Ms Sturgeon represented a "small shift in direction" for the administration.

Colin Borland, head of external affairs in Scotland, said: "Most welcome is the Scottish Government's sustained commitment to the small business bonus scheme which continues to give Scottish small firms a competitive advantage over their counterparts elsewhere in the UK.