Scottish Budget - provisional outturn 2025-2026: briefing note - 18 June 2026

Provisional Outturn – Budget Act

25. Under the Scotland Act 1998, the approval of expenditure is the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament. This responsibility requires the Parliament to set a limit on both the total amount of cash and the total level of resources that the Scottish Government can use. Approval for the final 2025-26 Budget was sought in the Spring Budget Revision laid in January 2026.

26. The largest element of the budget approved by the Scottish Parliament is accounted for within HM Treasury budgetary control totals. Parliamentary budgets also include funding provided annually by HM Treasury (Annually Managed Expenditure or AME) and other budgets which are not subject to the same annual limits.

27. Such budgets can only be used for specific spending, and any under/overspends cannot be deposited in the Scotland Reserve and have no subsequent impact on the Scottish Budget. Variances of this type are generally accounting items such as provisions, NHS impairments and student loans adjustments. These budgets are not available to buy public goods and deliver services.

28. This statement of Provisional Outturn will be followed by reporting on Outturn against the 2025-26 Budget Act limits in a suite of annual accounts which together report on the total Scottish Budget approved by the Scottish Parliament:

• The Annual Accounts of the Scottish Government (and of individual bodies funded from the Scottish Budget) will report on their expenditure compared to the allocation by Budget Act. The annual Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts will be published later in the year.
• There will be a separate additional account reporting on the devolved taxes, showing what was raised and paid into the Scottish Consolidated Fund (and therefore available to fund the activities authorised in the Budget Act).
• The Devolved Taxes Accounts will link to the Account of the Scottish Consolidated Fund, which is a cash account showing all sources of funding, including devolved taxes, paid into the Scottish Consolidated Fund; these accounts also show the drawdown of funding by the Scottish Government and other bodies funded via the Scottish Budget.
• A Statement of Total Final Outturn for the financial year 2025-26 against the final budget for the Scottish Administration as a whole will also be provided to the Scottish Parliament, on completion of the year end audits for all of the bodies within the Scottish Government budgeting boundary.