Scotland's Fiscal Devolution Story
An account of how Scotland's fiscal landscape has transformed over the past 3 decades, with an overview what fiscal devolution has enabled, how the system now operates and the medium-term challenges ahead.
Scotland’s Fiscal Devolution Story
Over the past three decades, Scotland has seen extensive and rapid fiscal changes to devolution. The Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government have moved from being almost entirely reliant on the UK Treasury for their funding to raising around 40% of Scotland’s devolved budgets directly in Scotland. These changes have created new opportunities and new risks, along with much greater accountability for the Scottish Parliament.
This dramatic change has required new institutions to be established, some for the first time in 300 years. Their early years have coincided with unprecedented domestic and global shocks, from EU Exit to coronavirus (COVID-19), volatile inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.
Having marked the 10th anniversary of a number of these institutions, it is timely to reflect on the transformation journey for Scotland and the continued development of its fiscal landscape.