Scottish Government underspent budget by £358m last year

Scottish ministers underspent their 2025-26 budget by almost £360 million, figures have revealed.

While the Scottish Government had a budget of £56.3 billion for the year, provisional outturn figures showed spending amounted to a total of £55.9 billion.

Public finance minister Hannah Mary Goodlad told MSPs the £358m underspend amounted to just 0.6% of the overall Scottish budget.

And she stressed it is always necessary for ministers to underspend, saying that the Scottish Government “absolutely can not overspend by a penny”.

She explained it was necessary to have an underspend in case of any late changes in areas such as tax revenues or social security spending, as well as to have some contingency cash.

But with the money that has not been spent carried forward, she told Holyrood there “is no loss of spending power to the Scottish Government”.

A total of £150m of the unused fund has already been allocated in spending for 2026-27, with the rest of the money giving ministers “necessary flexibility” at the end of the financial year, she added.

Goodlad said that “careful management” of the finances had been required to ensure Scotland’s budget was balanced in the light of the “ongoing inflationary pressures and global uncertainty”.

She added that with the budget “largely determined by the UK government’s spending decisions”, there was “significant uncertainty” for ministers, as the final amount is “only confirmed late in the financial year”.

But she said: “Despite these challenges we have continued to deliver for Scotland, focusing on key priorities of growing the economy, tackling child poverty, the cost of living, improving the NHS and public services and tackling climate change.”

Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Craig Hoy, however, said that the Scottish Government had “once again failed to spend a staggering amount of money available to them”.

He added: “This £350m plus underspend could have been spent on struggling frontline services or giving Scots a much-needed tax cut.

“Despite record levels of funding at their disposal, the SNP continue to force Scots to pay the highest taxes in the UK, yet their economic incompetence means growth is stagnant, employment is down, and inactivity continues to soar.

“John Swinney and the SNP need to urgently reassess their spending priorities.

“Instead of squandering taxpayers’ money, they should ensure it is spent where it is needed most alongside finally reducing tax and reining in benefits spending.”