Scottish Budget 2023-24: equality and Fairer Scotland statement

About the Scottish Budget

This budget is for the 2023-24 financial year, which runs from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

After the Scottish Government publishes the budget, the Scottish Parliament examines it. The Scottish Parliament then votes on whether it should be changed, or created as it has been proposed.

The Scottish Budget in 2023-24 is £59.8 billion (including annually managed expenditure).

The graph below shows that Health and Social Care and Social Justice, Housing and Local Government (which includes social security payments) are the two biggest areas of spend this year. Each of these make up just under one third of the total Scottish Budget.

For more information about this year's key changes in spend and how these impact on equality, see Chapter 1 of the Scottish Budget 2023-24.

A lot of the budget goes directly to a range of public bodies. They then decide how to use this funding, thinking about the impact on equality. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the Scottish Parliament and Audit Scotland have separate budget lines in the Scottish Budget. These are shown in the graph above.

Most public bodies are required to produce a mainstreaming report to show how they use their funding to tackle inequality. For example, more information about how funding for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service impacts on equality can be found on their website.

Where does the money in the Scottish Budget come from?

The Scottish Government's funding comes from a range of sources. For public services that the Scottish Government controls, it receives funding linked to a population share of related UK Government spending. The Scottish Budget also includes money collected from taxes that the Scottish Government controls.

Income tax is one of the main levers at the Scottish Government's disposal for redistributing household income and tackling income inequality. Analysis published alongside the 2023-24 Scottish Budget shows that the policy decisions taken at this Budget continue to be highly progressive. The highest earning taxpayers and households contribute to the largest increase in the amount of tax paid, which will be used to invest in and maintain our vital public services. Almost 39% of adults in Scotland – around 1.8 million individuals – will not pay income tax in 2023-24 as they will earn less than the Personal Allowance (£12,570) and they are therefore not directly affected by our Income Tax policy decisions.

Further information can be found in the Scottish Government Budget documents, in particular in Annex A.