The Scottish Consolidated Fund Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2026

Foreword

Scope of the Account

The Scottish Consolidated Fund (SCF) was set up following devolution in 1999 and received its statutory powers under the Scotland Act 1998.

This account has been prepared under sections 19(2) and 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 which require the Scottish Ministers to prepare and lay before Parliament an account showing payments into and out of the SCF.

Receipts

The SCF receives, from the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, sums which have been voted by the UK Parliament for the purpose of “grant payable to the Fund”. Several other receipts are also paid into the SCF, including receipts from the collection of devolved taxes.

Under devolved powers from the Scotland Act 2012, income tax continues to be administered by HM Revenue and Customs, but Scottish Income Tax revenues from earned income of Scottish taxpayers are assigned to the Scottish Administration. Assigned income tax revenues are drawn down from the UK Exchequer and paid into the SCF.

Also, under devolved powers from the 2012 Scotland Act, devolved taxes in respect of Land and Buildings Transactions Tax and Scottish Landfill Tax have been managed in Scotland from 2015-16 onwards. From 1 April 2026, Scottish Aggregates Tax was also introduced. Revenue Scotland was established by the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014 to administer and collect these taxes. The taxes collected by Revenue Scotland are paid to the SCF under sections 28 to 31 of the Scotland Act 2012.

The Devolved Taxes Account is prepared and published separately and can be accessed at the Scottish Government website. The grant payable from the UK Parliament has been adjusted to take account of these locally raised tax receipts.

Section 32 of the Scotland Act 2012 as amended by section 20 of the Scotland Act 2016 grants Scottish Ministers enhanced borrowing powers, with any sums borrowed and repaid (including interest) to be paid into and out of the SCF respectively. Loan facilities under these powers provide for both shorter-term (resource) and longer-term (capital) borrowing. These powers have been exercised regularly since 2017-2018. All loans were taken out with the National Loans Fund (NLF). More details of sums borrowed and repaid under these provisions are set out in Note 8 to the accounts.

In November 2025 the Scottish Government announced that it would, subject to in-year borrowing requirements and market conditions, proceed with a £1.5 billion multi-year bond programme with the first issuance anticipated in late 2026 or early 2027. In June 2026 banks and legal counsel were appointed to enable the programme to proceed as planned.

Scottish Government Bonds would represent an alternative, rather than additional source of capital borrowing and therefore be subject to the same aggregate limits as defined in the Scotland Act and the Fiscal Framework agreement between the UK and Scottish Governments. Therefore, as with the current source of capital borrowing (UK National Loans Fund), any proceeds and associated repayments of Scottish Government Bonds would flow through the Scottish Consolidated Fund.

Receipts not authorised to be used to support expenditure of a body collecting them shall also, by virtue of section 64(3) of the Scotland Act 1998, be payable into the SCF, for example monies recovered under the provisions of the proceeds of crime legislation.

Payments

Funding is drawn down from the SCF to support the spending plans approved by the Scottish Parliament in the annual Budget Act.

Sums are paid from the SCF in accordance with sections 4 and 6 of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000. Most payments out of the SCF are those authorised by the Budget Acts and the repayment of sums borrowed by the Scottish Ministers (as granted in Section 32 of the Scotland Act 2012 as amended by section 20 of the Scotland Act 2016). Other charges paid out of SCF include Proceeds of Crime and Victim Surcharge Fund monies used to cover for expenditure for cashback to communities and victim support organizations, salaries of senior judiciary, pensions of former First Minister and Presiding Officer and other minor costs, including bank charges.

In addition, in accordance with the Scotland Act 1998 (Designation of Receipts) Order 2009 as amended by the Scotland Act 1998 (Designation of Receipts) Order 2017, certain SCF receipts are designated to be paid to the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland. In practice, designated receipts are currently limited to bank interest received. During 2025-26, designated receipts of £81,221 were paid to Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland - see Note 13.

Those bodies that draw down funding from the SCF, principally the Scottish Government, provide annual accounts reporting their stewardship of those funds.

Accounts Overview

These accounts can be read in conjunction with the Devolved Taxes Account and the annual accounts of the Scottish Government and other bodies funded from the Scottish Budget to follow the flow of funds into and out of the SCF, funding the use of resources authorised by the Scottish Parliament. These form a suite of accounts information that describes the fiscal activity of the Scottish Government and includes the annual accounts of other bodies within the Scottish Administration and of the bodies funded directly from the Scottish Budget, which together report on the use of resources authorised by the Scottish Parliament for the financial year. The Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts and the Devolved Taxes Account can be accessed online at the Scottish Government website.

These accounts show the transactions for the services set out above. The receipts paid into the SCF during the year totalled £56,630 million with payments from the SCF of £56,613 million. The effect of the resulting surplus of £17 million is to increase the balance at the Government Banking Service to £283 million.

The main receipts paid into the SCF comprise funding from the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Scottish Income Tax; the source of these receipts is the UK Consolidated Fund, and their maximum value is set by the cash requirement in the UK Main Estimates and any amendments to it. The main payments out of the SCF are the payments authorised by the Budget Acts and any amendments; the maximum value of these is set by the cash authorisation in the Scottish Budget Acts and any amendments to it. The Performance Report section of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts provides a breakdown of the outturn for the financial year compared to the Budget authorised by the Scottish Parliament.

Principal Accountable Officer

The Permanent Secretary of the Scottish Government, in their role as the Principal Accountable Officer for the Scottish Administration, is required to sign any account prepared in pursuance of section 19(2) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000.

Audit

The accounts of the SCF are audited by Carole Grant, Audit Director at Audit Scotland, who is appointed by the Auditor General for Scotland as set out in section 21 of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000.

Joe Griffin

Principal Accountable Officer