Scottish Budget 2024-2025: Final Outturn Report
The purpose of this report is to present a statement of Final Outturn for the financial year 2024-25 against the statutory limits authorised through the appropriate legislative processes by the Scottish Parliament.
Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts
8. The Scottish Government’s 2024-25 Consolidated Accounts reported a final expenditure outturn of £56.3 billion against the approved budget of £57.3 billion, generating an underspend of £1.007 billion.
9. Taking into account other bodies included within the wider Scottish Administration boundary, the final expenditure outturn is £59.4 billion against the approved Parliamentary budget of £61.2 billion, generating an underspend of £1.789 billion.
10. The inclusion of the directly funded bodies (i.e. Scottish Parliament and Audit Scotland) completes the picture. The overall reported position for the total Scottish Budget in 2024-25 is an expenditure outturn of £59.5 billion against the approved Parliamentary budget of £61.3 billion. This results in an underspend of £1.793 billion which represents 3 percent of budget. Table 1 below provides further detail. It should be noted the figures provided are as reported in the audited accounts of each body.
| 2024-25 Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts | Final Outturn | Budget as at Spring Budget Revision | Over / Under Spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Constitution, External Affairs and Culture | 278 | 280 | (2) |
| Deputy First Minister, Economy, and Gaelic | 1,193 | 1,207 | (14) |
| Education and Skills | 3,903 | 3,956 | (53) |
| Finance and Local Government | 14,344 | 14,693 | (349) |
| Justice and Home Affairs | 3,604 | 3,600 | 4 |
| Net Zero and Energy | 659 | 730 | (71) |
| NHS Recovery, Health & Social Care | 20,539 | 20,586 | (47) |
| Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands | 1,042 | 1,085 | (43) |
| Social Justice | 7,101 | 7,265 | (164) |
| Transport | 3,433 | 3,691 | (258) |
| Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service [3] | 224 | 234 | (10) |
| Total Scottish Government[4] | 56,320 | 57,327 | (1,007) |
| Consumer Scotland | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Environmental Standards Scotland | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Food Standards Scotland | 23 | 24 | (1) |
| National Records of Scotland | 33 | 33 | 0 |
| NHS & Teachers Pension Schemes | 2,750 | 3,528 | (779) |
| Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Registers of Scotland | 9 | 10 | (1) |
| Revenue Scotland | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service | 205 | 205 | 0 |
| Scottish Fiscal Commission | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Scottish Housing Regulator | 5 | 6 | (1) |
| Total Scottish Administration | 59,367 | 61,156 | (1,789) |
| Audit Scotland | 12 | 14 | (2) |
| Scottish Parliament | 140 | 142 | (2) |
| Total Scottish Budget | 59,519 | 61,312 | (1,793) |
11. The total underspend of £1.793 billion does not represent a loss of spending power to the Scottish Government. As set out in paragraph 6 above, it is the outturn position which drives the totals that can flow through the Scotland Reserve.
12. Full details of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts underspends are outlined at Scottish Governments Consolidated Accounts Year Ended 31 March 2025.
13. With respect of the remaining bodies within the Scottish Budget, the most material variance (a £779 million underspend) relates to NHS and Teacher pension schemes. The pension schemes fall under Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) budgets, which are ring-fenced budgets set by HM Treasury. Any underspends shown against UK-funded Annually Managed Expenditure cannot be deposited in the Scotland Reserve and have no subsequent impact on the Scottish Budget. These budgets are not available to support general public services.
Contact
Email: Corporate.reporting@gov.scot