Commitments to new climate change and energy efficiency measures have been welcomed by campaigners.

The Scottish Government was also praised for setting out plans to improve education and economic growth, although it was criticised by some for not going far enough.

WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said: "Commitments to new climate change and warm homes legislation will provide opportunities to bring forward new policies that will put us on track for securing the full benefits of a zero-carbon future.

"Money for energy efficiency in the First Minister's post-EU referendum stimulus package is a welcome recognition that tackling cold homes can create jobs, boost the economy and cut our climate emissions."

Dr Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said the Government was right to prioritise a new climate bill and called for it to "set new targets for 2020 and beyond, and pave the way for every sector of the economy to deliver carbon savings".

He added: "It is disappointing that the government plan to halve and eventually abolish air passenger duty (APD).

"Their own figures show that reducing APD would increase climate change emissions and all the other parties in the Parliament are opposed to reducing it."

Alan Ferguson, chair of the Existing Homes Alliance, said: "It's great news the government has decided to make tackling fuel poverty and driving up the energy performance of our homes a priority in the programme for government.

"This is not just about fuel poverty and climate change - a multi-billion pound investment in energy efficiency can delivery excellent value for money as a stimulus project."

Gail Hunter, of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said: "The First Minister has today taken some very welcome steps which will help to return some much-needed stability to our property and construction sectors."

Andy Willox, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "The First Minister is right to focus on education and closing the performance gap between our richest and poorest pupils.

"To this end, her ministers could do worse than ensure every child has access to quality enterprise education."

CBI Scotland director Hugh Aitken welcomed plans for education, physical and digital infrastructure, and access to finance.

"This announcement did not go far enough to mitigate concerns around business rates," he added.

Elsewhere, the National Union of Students (NUS) Scotland backed a review of the student support system to improve fair access to education.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission welcomed the commitment to remove a barrier to justice for survivors of historic child abuse.

Judith Robertson, chair of the commission, said: "This approach recognises that current time limitations on civil actions are not appropriate in cases of child abuse."

Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams said the Domestic Abuse Bill is an "essential piece of legislation that acknowledges there is much more to domestic abuse than physical violence alone".

He added: "Victims of abuse are subjected to a range of insidious power and control behaviours that permeates throughout the relationship and often continues beyond its conclusion.

"We fully support the proposed introduction of an offence which recognises such abusive and controlling behaviour and the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Bill as a whole."