Chamber and committees

In an extremely challenging financial climate, and following a worst case scenario UK Autumn Statement in which UK Ministers prioritised tax cuts over public spending, we have had to take difficult decisions in setting this budget. The amount Scotland has available to spend is still largely driven by the block grant, which is derived from the UK Government's spending decisions and continuing constraint on public expenditure. The block grant has fallen by 1.2% in real terms since 2022-23 and, because of the UK Government's failure to inflation-proof capital budgets, our capital spending power is due to contract by almost 10% in real terms over 5 years.

Despite this, I am pleased that this Government has committed £4.7 billion in capital and resource in 2024-25 for activities that will have a positive impact on delivery of our climate change goals, and funding of almost £3.9 billion for transport across Scotland. The total budget for my portfolio increases by £47.7 million in 2024-25, which is a £27.9 million (0.6%) reduction in real terms using GDP deflators published in November 2023.

A significant proportion of the expenditure in my portfolio is legally and contractually committed, and I have ensured that those commitments are met in full in this budget as well as allocating funding to support critical maintenance and renewal expenditure to ensure that the people of Scotland have access to a safe and reliable transport system.

I have considered equalities and fairer Scotland duties and progress towards our statutory targets for climate change and child poverty in prioritising the budget available to me. I refer to the Equalities and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement and Carbon Assessment published alongside this budget.

The Scottish Government has faced its most challenging budgetary settlement since devolution began – a settlement which has not been inflation-proofed, and which has subsequently required difficult decisions to be made, due to the pressures on our public services. Mindful of our missions and priorities for Scotland, we have had to prioritise legal and contractual obligations in determining how to deploy this budget across Education and Skills priorities. Our children, young people, families and learners of all ages continue to be a key priority for this Government and we will continue to focus on our three central missions of equality, opportunity, and community.

We remain committed to supporting a high quality post-school education, research and skills system with over £2.4 billion investment. This will maintain Scotland’s reputation for world-leading research; provide opportunities for people to learn and develop their skills through further and higher education and apprenticeships – honouring this government’s commitment to free tuition; and provide vital financial support to students to support them in completing their studies in the face of significant cost of living pressures.

The impact assessments which support the draft Budget 2024-25 can be found at this link: Scottish Budget - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . In particular I’d draw your attention to the: Education and Skills portfolio analysis section in Annex B and the Employability Case Study in Annex C of the Equality and Fairer Scotland statement.

I’d also highlight the following, also available at the link above:

Scottish Budget 2024 to 2024: high level carbon assessment

Scottish Budget 2024 to 2024: distributional analysis

Scottish Budget 2024 to 2024: Climate Change Assessment of the Budget

The following list of companies part in Scotland’s business delegation to COP28 in December 2023:

The Scottish Government has not provided funding for the John Shivas Memorial Trust.

The Energy Consents Unit does not have a target timescale for logging representations. Representations may be made to the Scottish Ministers in line with statutory timeframes set out in public notices, which require to be given in accordance with applicable regulations. Representations are managed such that the material issues raised within are always taken into account before any decision is taken by Scottish Ministers.

The Programme Delivery Board last met on 31 January 2024. The Board discussed the Programme’s progress to date, including an update on the status of the NCS Bill and subsequent planning across the programme for 2024.

The Energy Consents Unit has increased its staffing resource in response to increased application volumes. Resourcing requirements are kept under review, with a view to addressing the expected intake of applications.

The Scottish Government has not provided any funding to North Queensferry Heritage Trust since 2019.

The following list of companies and organisations were invited to the St Andrew’s Day reception during COP28 in December 2023:

The Scottish Government funds delivery of 1140 hours of high quality funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) to all three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds. This entitlement is regardless of the working status of their parents - putting children first.

We recognise how important both early learning and school age childcare are for families, especially those experiencing poverty. Within this year’s Programme for Government we have committed to work with local government and partners in the ELC sector to expand our childcare offers.

We are already delivering school age childcare services to around 1,000 priority families through our early adopter work in Glasgow, Dundee, Clackmannanshire, and Inverclyde - and through our Access to Childcare Fund projects.

Over the next year we will expand our early adopter work to include Fife and Shetland and also to broaden the work to include younger children. This work will provide us with a clearer picture about what approaches deliver the greatest impact for families.

In parallel we will continue to work with local authorities and our partners in the sector to support up-take of the existing two year old offer, to ensure as many children as possible receive the benefits of high quality ELC. We will also begin the work necessary to plan for an expansion of funded ELC for more families with a two year old, focused on those who will benefit most.

We know that the needs of younger children are different to those aged three and four and in developing our plans for an expansion we will be guided by what the evidence tells us is best for children and families.