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

Notes to the Accounts

1. Basis of accounting

In accordance with Section 19(2) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000, these accounts are prepared on a cash basis.

2. Restatements

There were no elected repayments for voluntary donations into the SCF during 2025-26 or 2024-25. Similarly, the UK Contingencies Fund was not accessed during 2025-26 or 2024-25. Therefore, two notes to the accounts have been removed.

A new note has been added in relation to former First Minister and Presiding Officer pensions.

3. Non-Domestic Rates Income

Non-Domestic Rates Income (NDRI) is collected by local authorities. These funds are pooled, and a distributable amount set by the Scottish Government. This distributable amount is then added to the General Revenue Grant funding that local authorities receive through their weekly payments. The 2025-26 distributable amount was £3,114 million

(2024-25: £3,068 million). This funding does not come directly through the SCF as cashflows, so it is not represented in Receipts and Payments Account. Further information about the NDRI can be found in Non-Domestic Rating Account, published separately on the Scottish Government website (2024-25 account laid before the Scottish Parliament on 17 September 2025 is available online^[1]).

4. Receipts from the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland

These receipts are paid into the SCF under Section 64(2) of the Scotland Act 1998. They represent sums voted by the UK Parliament for the purpose of “grant payable to the Fund”, net of Scottish Income Tax revenues assigned to the Scottish Administration.

Analysis of amounts received in the SCF for 2025-26 is as follows:

5. Scottish Income Tax

The Scotland Act 2012 Section 25 empowers the Scottish Parliament to set a Scottish Rate of Income Tax for Scottish taxpayers with effect from 6 April 2016. Income tax revenues derived from Scottish taxpayers were assigned to the Scottish Administration commencing from 2016-17.

Analysis of amounts received in the SCF for 2025-26 is as follows:

6. National Insurance Contributions

National Insurance Contributions from Scottish taxpayers are collected by HMRC. The NHS allocation is paid into the SCF as a funding stream for NHS Scotland.

7. Receipts from Devolved Taxes

Analysis of fully devolved taxes inflows paid into the SCF by Revenue Scotland during 2025-26 is as follows:

8. Borrowing by Scottish Ministers

Under Section 32 of the Scotland Act 2012, as amended by Section 20 of the Scotland Act 2016, additional borrowing powers were conferred on Scottish Ministers with effect from 1 April 2015. Any sums borrowed and repaid under these provisions must be done via the SCF and hence be reflected in these accounts. The first sums borrowed from the NLF were received into the SCF in 2017-18. A summary of the borrowing position is set out as follows:

The repayment of borrowing is scheduled as follows:

Details of loans taken out are as follows:

At 31 March 2026

More details on Scottish Government borrowing can be found in the Fiscal Framework Outturn^[2] Report most recently published in September 2025.

9. Crown Estate Surplus

Under the provisions of Section 36 of the Scotland Act 2016, the Crown Estate Transfer Scheme 2017 transferred the existing Scottish functions of the Crown Estate Commissioners to Scottish Ministers. A new body, Crown Estate Scotland, was established to manage those functions. All revenue surpluses generated by Crown Estate Scotland are paid into the SCF with effect from 2017-18. There was no surplus payment into the SCF in 2025-26 (2024-25: £13 million).

10. Fines, Forfeitures and Fixed Penalties

The Scotland Act 1998 (Designation of Receipts) (Amendment) Order 2017, issued under the provisions of Section 67 of the Scotland Act 2016, removed fines, forfeitures, and fixed penalties receipts from their previous classification as designated receipts under the Scotland Act 1998 (Designation of Receipts) Order 2009. Amount paid into the SCF during 2025-26 was £32 million (2024-25: £23 million).

11. National Loans Fund repayments

Prior to 1 July 1999, the Secretary of State for Scotland lent money to several Scottish bodies out of the National Loans Fund. At 1 July 1999, the right to the sums outstanding was transferred to the Scottish Ministers who must repay the principal and interest to the Secretary of State for Scotland via the SCF. All remaining NLF loans are with Scottish Water. Registers of Scotland loans were repaid in full during 2024-25. The final settlement of £1,518,959.58 (comprising principal, interest, and NLF premium) was made on 14 March 2025 directly to HM Treasury by Registers of Scotland, bypassing the SCF and without SG knowledge or involvement. The SCF Receipts and Payments account includes receipts from Scottish Water and corresponding payments to the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Analysis of the repayments made during the year were as follows.

12. Receipts for the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer

The King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (KLTR) is the representative of the Crown in Scotland and is responsible for dealing with ownerless property (“bona vacantia”). Regulation of the activities of the KLTR was transferred to Scottish Ministers by Schedule 8 Paragraph 1 of the Scotland Act 1998. Bona vacantia covers assets of dissolved companies, assets of missing persons, and lost and abandoned property. The realised value of such assets is paid into the SCF and remains there until Scottish Parliament authorisation to draw the balances down is obtained in the Budget Act.

The balance of King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer receipts paid into the SCF is as follows:

13. Analysis of Other Receipts

As provided for in Section 64(3) of the Scotland Act 1998 (and certain other legislative provisions), all sums received by members of the Scottish Administration (and certain other bodies) are to be paid into the SCF as Consolidated Fund Extra Receipts (CFERs) unless there are alternative statutory provisions. In practice, most of the receipts of the bodies concerned are authorised to be used to support Scottish Administration expenditure under the Budget Act except for the designated receipts accruing from bank interest which are required to be surrendered to HMT through Scotland Office.

The Scotland Act 1998 (Designation of Receipts) Order 2009 designates certain receipts (designated receipts) and provides that sums equivalent to these are to be paid to the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, in practice for paying into the UK Consolidated Fund. As detailed in note 10, the 2009 Order was amended with effect from 2017-18 to remove a category of receipts (fines, forfeitures, and fixed penalties) from classification as designated receipts.

The receipts paid into the SCF during 2025-26 include £8 million (2024-25: £10 million) recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act (see Note 16) and £1.1 million (2024-25: £0.7 million) recovered under the Victim Surcharge provision (see Note 17) by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. CFER receipts surrendered to the SCF in previous years by Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service were repaid during 2025-26 totalling £23,000.

Except for designated receipts, all other receipts have been classed as receipts authorised to support expenditure and have been included in the Funding section of the Receipts and Payments Account.

During 2025-26, CFER payments of £81,221 were made to Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland.

14. Payments Authorised Under the Budget Acts

For the period of this account the Scottish Parliament approved Budget (Scotland) Act 2025 (ASP 7) as amended by the Budget (Scotland) Act 2025 Amendment Regulations 2025 (SSI 2025/382) and the Budget (Scotland) Act 2025 Amendment Regulations 2026 (SSI 2026/134).

In accordance with the Scotland Act 1998 and provisions made under it, these Orders appropriate sums out of the SCF to support the spending plans approved by the Scottish Parliament for the financial year ending 31 March 2026.

In 2025-26, the SCF was required by statute to pay funding directly to three recipients, the Scottish Administration, the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body, and Audit Scotland. These bodies are referred to as directly funded bodies. Funding paid to the Scottish Government in respect of the Scottish Administration includes funding paid by the Scottish Government to other Scottish public sector bodies. These are referred to as indirectly funded bodies.

15. Judicial Salaries

The salaries of the judiciary are a matter for the UK Government. Information on salaries payable is set out in a report by the Senior Salaries Review Body. The 2025 report is available online^[3].

Scottish Government operates a separate bank account, funded directly from the SCF.

Receipts and Payments Account

For the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026

Summary of the balance held at the Government Banking Service:

The number (FTE) of paid judiciary in post was:

16. Proceeds of Crime Receipts

The net balance of Proceeds of Crime (POCA) receipts in the SCF is as follows:

POCA is a source of SG funding and all Justice requirements for applications of POCA are funded from within the general SG funding envelope. This is reflected in the Receipts and Payments Statement and is separate from the management of the cash within the SCF reflected in this note.

17. Victim Surcharge Receipts

The Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014 includes powers to introduce a Victim Surcharge, payable by offenders convicted of specified offences. The Victim Surcharge (Scotland) Regulations 2019 set up a Victim Surcharge Fund, and set out procedures for its administration, including the collection and allocation of funds. Victim Surcharge receipts have been paid into the SCF since 2020-21, where they are held pending payment to the Scottish Government for allocation.

18. Former First Minister and Presiding Officer Pensions

The Scotland Act 1998 (Transitory and Transitional Provisions) (Scottish Parliamentary Pension Scheme) Order 1999 and Scottish Parliamentary Pensions Act 2009 established a separate pension scheme for holders of the office of First Minister or Presiding Officer. This scheme is unfunded and payments are charged on and paid out of the Scottish Consolidated Fund. Quarterly payments from the SCF to the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body throughout 2025-26 amounted to £327,000 (2024-25: £256,000).

19. Analysis of the balance held in the Scottish Consolidated Fund

Details of the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer balance held in the SCF and its derivation are set out in Note 12. Sums due to funded bodies not yet paid include balances related to Proceeds of Crime, Victims Surcharge and Restitution Fund receipts.

The balance on the General Reserve of the SCF does not necessarily represent an amount available for appropriation by a Budget Act or other means.