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Seòmar agus comataidhean

Question reference: S6W-16267

  • Date lodged: 28 March 2023
  • Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 April 2023

Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will avoid any significant underspend in its annual budgets going forward.


Answer

The Scottish Budget is largely fixed and the Scottish Government cannot overspend against the Budget limit. Budgets are carefully managed by Scottish Ministers through well-established planning, year-round management and reporting processes. The robust financial management processes in place ensure that spending against the Scottish Budget is continually assessed with all available funding directed to priorities to maximise the effective use of resources. This includes annual autumn and spring revisions of the Budget which are agreed with the Scottish Parliament. All fiscal underspends are carried forward within the Scotland Reserve with no loss of spending power. It is important that the Parliamentary focus is on the discretionary budget figures (that support public spending) rather than technical (non-cash) underspends that can inflate the headline figure but do not impact on spending power.