Scottish Government Grants, Aberdeen City Council Funding, Expenses, and Plans: FOI release

Information requested

1. What portion of the £1 billion in grants from the Scottish Government is allocated to Aberdeen City Council (ACC)?

2. How was the figure determining the amount of grants for ACC calculated? Is there access to an estimate explaining how this funding was determined?

3. What income is projected for ACC this year, and what expenses are expected?

4. What portion of the funding is allocated for housing repairs and upgrades? How much is allocated for the construction of new housing?

5. How much funding is planned for the demolition and renovation of old housing?

6. What other expenses are included in this budget? (education, social services, healthcare programs, etc.)

7. How many properties remain uninhabitable but are not subject to demolition?

8. What contracts have been awarded to contractors using Scottish Government grants? How much was spent on these contracts, and who specifically received them?

9. How is transparency and competition ensured in the contracting process for the use of grants?

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you requested because an exemption under section 17 (1) (b) (Notice that information is not held). The Scottish Government is not required to carry out additional analysis if information is not held at the time of the request. The reasons why that exemption applies are explained in the Annex to this letter.

The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total  financial resources available to them, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

1. ‘What portion of the £1 billion in grants from the Scottish Government is allocated to Aberdeen City Council (ACC)?’

The Scottish Government will provide an additional £1.1 billion of funding to local authorities in 2025-26. ACC will receive an additional £41.2 million or 8.5 per cent compared to 2024-25. ACC share of the additional £1.1 billion is 3.7 per cent.

2. ‘How was the figure determining the amount of grants for ACC calculated? Is there access to an estimate explaining how this funding was determined?’

This is set out in the Funding of Local Government in Scotland, 2025-26, along with the Green Book.

3. ‘What income is projected for ACC this year, and what expenses are expected?’

Provisional outturn figures for 2023-24 and estimated Income and expenditure for ACC in 2024- 25 are published in POBE 2024; POBE 2024 was published in June last; the provisional outturn for 2024-25 and budget estimates for 2025-26 will be published in POBE 2025 this June. 

4. ‘What portion of the funding is allocated for housing repairs and upgrades? How much is allocated for the construction of new housing?’

POBE gives only a broad breakdown of how the total funding available to ACC is expected to be allocated. For 2024-25 (figures again from the POBE 2024 Revenue Workbook), the £539.371 million was projected to be split as follows:

Service Area	2024-25 Budget Estimate (£thousands)
Education	257,611
Culture and Related Services	20,908
Social Work	169,607
Roads & Transport	3,367
Environmental Services	30,610
Building, Planning & Development	7,511
Central Services	41,531
Non-HRA Housing	8,266
Trading Services	-40
Total Net Revenue Expenditure	539,371

As noted in the answer to question 3, 2024-25 provisional outturn and 2025-26 budget estimates will be published in June.

5. ‘How much funding is planned for the demolition and renovation of old housing?’

The Scottish Government does not hold this information, I note you have copied in Aberdeen City Council’s own FOI unit, who may be able to provide an answer to this question.

6. ‘What other expenses are included in this budget? (education, social services, healthcare programs, etc.)’

Please refer to the table in the answer to question 4.

7. ‘How many properties remain uninhabitable but are not subject to demolition?’

The Scottish Government does not hold this information, I note you have copied in Aberdeen City Council’s own FOI unit, who may be able to provide an answer to this question.

8. ‘What contracts have been awarded to contractors using Scottish Government grants? How much was spent on these contracts, and who specifically received them?’

The Scottish Government does not hold this information, I note you have copied in Aberdeen City Council’s own FOI unit, who may be able to provide an answer to this question.

9. How is transparency and competition ensured in the contracting process for the use of grants?

The Scottish Government does not hold this information, I note you have copied in Aberdeen City Council’s own FOI unit, who may be able to provide an answer to this question.

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the links listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

Annex A: Reasons for not providing information (as referenced above).

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.

The Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have asked for because due to the nature of Local Government Funding, Aberdeen City Council manages and sets their own budget. Therefore, there are some elements of your questions that the Scottish Government does not have knowledge of.

As such, I hereby provide you with formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold some of the information you have requested.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.