Expectations were high of Alex Salmond's speech on Moving Scotland Forward at Holyrood yesterday, but it added little momentum and failed to match the advance hype.

Two days before his anniversary as First Minister, Mr Salmond listed his achievements to date, glossing over looming problems such as the new local income tax and ignoring the Scottish Futures Trust plans for financing public projects. There was knockabout at Labour's expense on plans for an independence referendum. And where he acknowledged the minority status means a constrained legislative programme, the speech stressed the optimistic tone of year one. There was only one swipe at the Westminster government, preferring positive talk of "ambition, innovation and openness".

Among four minor announcements, the most notable was confirmation of the May 27 launch of Scotland Performs, a project that carries the potential for fundamentally changing the way the Scottish Government is run.

The big idea is a website, intended to provide a candid assessment of how well Scotland is performing against similar countries and regions on a range of indicators, targets and outcomes. Anyone with online access will be able to choose from a menu of policy areas, read about the challenge, the government's responses, with an indicator of politicians' influence on results and an assessment of performance in international league tables.

This model borrows from the US state of Virginia. Its website - www.virginia performs.com - offers seven outcomes and 46 indicators. At a glance, it is clear the state is slipping down America-wide comparison tables for obesity, traffic deaths, road congestion and consumer protection.

There is a big challenge to get robust data, with agreement the measures are fair. And Labour was already on the attack yesterday, with a warning the SNP's commitment to fighting poverty is not backed by its spending priorities. While economic data is clear, the promise to raise incomes for the lowest-income 30% of Scots is anything but, argues party adviser Professor Arthur Midwinter.

Labour health spokeswoman Margaret Curran argued there has been "a fundamental retreat from the poverty agenda, a lack of focus and a real disconnection between what they say and what they deliver. Everybody aspires to the abolition of poverty, but the key test is what we do to achieve that, and the SNP's poverty strategy is very much an after-thought."