Spending from Building Scotland Fund during financial year 2018-19: FOI release

Information requested

 

You asked for:

1. How much money has been spent from the Building Scotland Fund during FY 2018-19 (understanding it is not yet a full FY, the amount spent/invested so far). 

2. The Scottish Government set the target to invest £70m in FY 2018-2019. If this target is not met, does the underspend roll into the following financial year into the Building Scotland Fund. 

2a. If this does not roll over, where is the money then allocated.

 

Response

 

At the date of your enquiry, £51.8 million has been allocated for a number of projects from the Building Scotland Fund.  This money will be drawn down by the projects as they progress.

The Scottish Government will ensure that £150 million will be available for the lifetime of the Building Scotland Fund.  While the proposed profile of spending may change during the course of each financial year, the overall commitment to provide £150 million for investment until 2021 remains unchanged.

You asked for clarification on:

Could you please clarify if this £51.8m was allocated in FY 2018-19 or is this across a longer time frame?  It is clear the government set a £70m investment target for FY 18-19, so why has only £51.8m been spent?

The £70 million budget for the Building Scotland Fund is available to be allocated to individual projects.  So far, we have allocated £51.8 million to projects during the financial year 2018-2019.  We expect a number of further deals to be concluded before the end of the financial year.  Due to the nature of the investment activity, deals can take some time to conclude and depend heavily on applicants information and interest.

 

This does not clarify if there is an underspend in the targeted money, for example if only £51.8m is spent in FY 18-19 out of a target of £70m does the  £18.2m then roll over to the next financial year?

I would like to know if this underspend is rolled over to the fund for the following year adding to the total £150m investment until 2021?

The Scottish Government has committed to a total allocation of £150 million in respect of the Building Scotland Fund, £70 million of this was originally allocated to the 18/19 budget, leaving £80 million for future years to 2021. As part of the Scottish Governments overall budgetary management, underspends in the 2018/19 financial year will be made available to the BSF over the life of this Fund.

 

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