About the Scottish Parliament

The aim of this paper is to provide guidance to parliamentary committees on the budget process, which is based on the Budget Review Group’s 2017 review of the budget  process. The Group’s report can be found here: 

Budget Review Group - Final Report

A key feature of the full year approach to scrutiny involves each committee writing to their respective Minister with their pre-budget report at least 6 weeks prior to the publication of the Budget. It should set out their views on the delivery and funding of existing policy priorities, any proposed changes and how these should be funded.   This should include its findings on the impact of spending on outcomes and the implications of these findings for future spending plans, including any suggested changes to policy priorities or allocation of resources. The pre-budget reports would normally be published before the end of October.

There is no requirement for pre-budget reports to be sent to the Finance and Public Administration Committee. 

In the Budget document, the Scottish Government will include a summary of how the Parliament’s committees have influenced the formulation of the Budget. Ministers will then provide a more detailed response to individual committees’ pre-budget reports within five sitting days from the publication of the Budget. Each committee will then have the opportunity to hear oral evidence from their respective Ministers on the detailed response.