Scottish Consolidated Fund Accounts: 2019-2020

Notes to the Accounts

1. Basis of accounting

In accordance with Section 19(2) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000, these accounts are prepared on a cash basis.

2. Receipts from the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland

These receipts are paid into the Scottish Consolidated Fund under Section 64(2) of the Scotland Act 1998.

3. Scottish Rate of Income Tax

The Scotland Act 2012 Section 25 empowers the Scottish Parliament to set a Scottish Rate of Income Tax (SRIT) for Scottish taxpayers with effect from 6 April 2016. Income tax revenues derived from Scottish taxpayers were assigned to the Scottish Administration commencing in 2016-17. During the year 2019-20, £11,684 million of assigned income tax was paid into the Scottish Consolidated Fund (2018-19, £12,115 million).

4. Receipts from Devolved Taxes

During the year 2019-20, Revenue Scotland paid over £725 million to the Scottish Consolidated Fund in respect of the two Devolved Taxes.

	2019-20 £000	2018-19 £000
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT)	559,991	560,981
Scottish Landfill Tax (SLFT)	164,597	153,718
Total Devolved Taxes	724,588	714,699

5. Borrowing by Scottish Ministers

Under Section 32 of the Scotland Act 2012, as amended by Scotland Act 2016 Section 20, additional borrowing powers were conferred on Scottish Ministers with effect from 1 April 2015. Any sums borrowed and repaid under these provisions must be done via the Scottish Consolidated Fund and hence be reflected in these accounts. The first sums borrowed from the NLF were received by the SCF in 2017-18. A summary of the borrowing position is set out as follows:

	Principal	Accrued Interest	Total
At 31 March 2020	£’000	£’000	£’000
At 1 April 2019	692,927	1,438	694,365
New borrowing	405,000	-	405,000
Interest incurred	-	11,338	11,338
Repayments	(26,294)	-	(26,294)
Interest paid	-	(10,802)	(10,802)
At 31 March 2020	1,071,633	1,974	1,073,607

Repayments of principal and interest in 2019-20 totalled £37.096 million (2018-19 £14.796 million).

	Principal	Accrued Interest	Total
At 31 March 2019	£’000	£’000	£’000
At 1 April 2018	450,000	547	450,547
New borrowing	250,000	-	250,000
Interest incurred	-	8,614	8,614
Repayments	(7,073)	-	(7,073)
Interest paid	-	(7,723)	(7,723)
At 31 March 2019	692,927	1,438	694,365

The repayment of borrowing is scheduled as follows:

	Principal	Interest	Total
At 31 March 2020	£’000	£’000	£’000
Less than 1 year	51,943	12,526	64,469
1 – 5 years	229,171	44,442	273,613
More than 5 years	790,519	87,663	878,182
Total	1,071,633	144,631	1,216,264

	Principal	Interest	Total
At 31 March 2019	£’000	£’000	£’000
Less than 1 year	26,294	10,407	36,701
1 – 5 years	157,812	38,034	195,846
More than 5 years	508,821	78,211	587,032
Total	692,927	126,652	819,579

6. Crown Estate surplus

Under the provisions of Section 36 of the Scotland Act 2016, the Crown Estate Transfer Scheme 2017 transferred the existing Scottish functions of the Crown Estate Commissioners to Scottish Ministers. A new body, Crown Estate Scotland, was established to manage those functions. All revenue surpluses generated by Crown Estate Scotland are paid into the Scottish Consolidated Fund with effect from 2017-18. The surplus paid into the Fund in 2019-20 amounted to £10.1 million (2018-19 £11.8 million).

7. Fines, forfeitures and fixed penalties

The Scotland Act 1998 (Designation of Receipts) Order 2017, issued under the provisions of Section 67 of the Scotland Act 2016, removes fines forfeitures and fixed penalties receipts from their previous classification as designated receipts under the Scotland Act 1998 (Designation of Receipts) Order 2009.

In 2019-20, the total of fines, forfeitures and fixed penalties paid into the SCF was £26.9 million (2018-19 £20.5 million).

8. Receipts for the Queen’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer

The Queen’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (QLTR) is the Crown’s representative in Scotland, and is responsible for dealing with ownerless property (“bona vacantia”). Regulation of the activities of the QLTR was transferred to Scottish Ministers by Schedule 8 Paragraph 1 of the Scotland Act 1998. Bona vacantia covers assets of dissolved companies, assets of missing persons and lost and abandoned property. The realised value of such assets is paid by the QLTR into the SCF. The balance of Queen’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer receipts paid into the Fund is as follows:

	2019-20 £000	2018-19 £000
Balance in the SCF at 1 April	59,011	55,033
Receipts in the period	7,369	3,978
Payments in the period	(65,000)	-
Balance in the SCF at 31 March	1,380	59,011

QLTR receipts continue to be categorised under the heading of receipts not authorised to be used to support expenditure in the Income and Expenditure Account. In 2019-20, QLTR receipts accumulated in the SCF were authorised to be used to support expenditure to the extent of £65 million by the Budget Acts. This was paid by the SCF as part of the funding payments to the Scottish Administration in the 2019-20, shown above as payments in the period.

9. Receipt from the Registers of Scotland

Approval was given by the Scottish Parliament of the Section 17 Order under the Public Services Reform Act on 18 March 2020, coming into force on 31 March 2020, allowing for the repeal of Section 9 of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000, and the transfer of reserves from Registers of Scotland. Under these provisions, £50 million was transferred to the Scottish Consolidated Fund by the Registers of Scotland in 2019-20. The Registers of Scotland published accounts for 2019-20 include a liability to the Fund of £8.254 million, representing the balance of retained earnings payable to the Fund.

10. Analysis of other receipts not authorised to be used to support expenditure

As provided for in Section 64(3) of the Scotland Act 1998 (and certain other legislative provisions) all sums received by members of the Scottish Administration (and certain other bodies) are to be paid into the Scottish Consolidated Fund as Consolidated Fund Extra Receipts (CFERs) unless there are alternative statutory provisions. In practice, most of the receipts of the bodies concerned were authorised to be used to support expenditure under the Budget Act and the Budget Orders.

The Scotland Act 1998 (Designation of Receipts) Order 2009 designates certain receipts (designated receipts) and provides that sums equivalent to these are to be paid to the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, in practice for paying into the UK Consolidated Fund. As detailed in note 7, the 2009 Order was amended with effect from 2017-18 to remove a category of receipts (fines, forfeitures and fixed penalties) from classification as designated receipts.

The majority of the receipts paid into the Fund in 2019-20 relate to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, most of which are amounts recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act (see Note 13).

2019-20	Receipts paid into Fund during period £000	Receipts classed as Designated £000
Rural Economy	219	219
Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service	4,493	-
	4,712	219
Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service	(16)	-
Total	4,696	219

During 2019-20, CFER payments were paid to Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland of £219,000.

CFER receipts surrendered to the Fund in previous years by Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service were repaid during 2019-20 totalling £16,000.

2018-19	Receipts paid into Fund during period £000	Receipts classed as Designated £000
Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity	191	3
Rural Economy	675	275
Justice	5,357	-
Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service	3,028	-
Total	9,251	278

During 2018-19, CFER payments were paid to Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland of £278,000.

11. Payments authorised under the Budget Acts

For the period of this account the Scottish Parliament approved: Budget (Scotland) Act 2018 (ASP 6) as amended by the Budget (Scotland) Act Amendment Regulations 2018 (SSI 2017/363) and the Budget (Scotland) Act Amendment Regulations 2019 (SSI 2018/117).

These Orders appropriate sums out of the Scottish Consolidated Fund for the financial year ending 31 March 2020 for the purposes of meeting expenditure in that year in connection with the functions for which expenditure is, by virtue of the Scotland Act 1998 and provisions made under it, payable out of that fund during the year.

2019-20	£000	£000
Scottish Government and indirectly funded bodies	37,478,665
Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Services	137,500
Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service	104,574
Food Standards Scotland	15,600
Scottish Administration		37,736,339
Forestry Commission (Scotland)	-
The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body	90,200
Audit Scotland	7,269	97,469
Total Paid		37,833,808

In 2020-21, the Fund was required by stature to pay funding directly to three recipients, the Scottish Administration, the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body and Audit Scotland. These bodies are referred to as directly funded bodies. Funding paid to the Scottish Government in respect of the Scottish Administration includes funding paid on by the Scottish Government to other Scottish public sector bodies. These are referred to as indirectly funded bodies.

Forestry Commission (Scotland) was a directly funded body in 2018-19, but following a reorganisation and a change of status for its successor bodies to indirectly funded bodies, ceased to be so from 2019-20 onwards.

During 2018-19 the authorised payments under the Budget Acts was £35,683 million. This is summarised below:

2018-19	£000	£000
Scottish Government and Associated Departments	35,260,390
Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Services	114,150
Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service	129,966
Food Standards Scotland	14,500
Scottish Administration		35,519,006
Forestry Commission (Scotland)	67,700
The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body	89,400
Audit Scotland	6,700	163,800
Total Paid		35,682,806

12. Judicial Salaries

Receipts and Payments Account

For the period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020

Receipts	2019-20 £000	2018-19 £000
Received from the SCF	34,767	33,094
Income from recovery of overpayments	-	-
Reimbursement of salary costs	122	235
Total Receipts	34,889	33,329

Payments	2019-20 £000	2018-19 £000
Salary Costs	35,233	33,110
Bank Charges	1	2
Total Payments	35,234	33,112
Surplus/(Deficit) For The Period	(345)	217

Summary of the balance held at the Government Banking Service:

Balance brought forward from previous year	460	243
Surplus/(deficit) of receipts over payments for the year	(345)	217
Balance carried forward	115	460

A member of the judiciary took up a post as chair of an inquiry in 2016-17, and has continued in post during 2019-20; her salary costs continued to be charged to the Fund. The inquiry reimbursed the Fund for the member’s salary costs commensurate with the time spent on inquiry business, totalling £122,000 (2018-19 £235,000).

The salaries of the judiciary are a matter for the UK Government. Information on salaries payable is set out in a report by the Senior Salaries Review Body. The 2017 report is available online^[5].

During 2019-20 the number of paid judiciary in post at 31 March 2020 was:

Judges (Senators of the College of Justice)	34.5
Sheriffs Principal	6
Sheriffs	115.3 FTE
Summary Sheriffs	38.6 FTE
Members of Lands Tribunal Scotland	1.8 FTE
Chair of the Scottish Land Court	1
Deputy Chair of the Scottish Land Court	0.8 FTE
Members of the Scottish Land Court	1.4 FTE

Comparative figures for 2018-19, the number of paid judiciary in post at 31 March 2019, are:

Judges (Senators of the College of Justice)	34
Sheriffs Principal	6
Sheriffs	122.8 FTE
Summary Sheriffs	35.4 FTE
Members of Lands Tribunal Scotland	1.8 FTE
Chair of the Scottish Land Court	1
Deputy Chair of the Scottish Land Court	0.8 FTE
Members of the Scottish Land Court	1.4 FTE

13. Proceeds of Crime receipts 2019-20

During 2019-20 a total of £6.300 million (2018-19 £5.439 million) was repaid to the Scottish Government in respect of Proceeds of Crime initially surrendered to the Scottish Consolidated Fund.

The net balance of Proceeds of Crime receipts paid into the Fund is as follows:

	2019-20 £000	2018-19 £000
Balance in the SCF at 1 April	7,879	6,321
Receipts to the SCF in the period	4,493	6,997
Payments to the Scottish Government in the period	(6,300)	(5,439)
Balance in the SCF at 31 March	6,072	7,879

14. Analysis of the balance held at the Scottish Consolidated Fund

	2019-20 £000	2018-19 £000 restated
Sums due to funded bodies not yet paid	38,047	17,551
Designated receipts not yet paid to UKCF	-	-
NHS Trusts balance	41,611	41,611
Scotland Reserve	126,470	-
Lochaber Fee Income Scotland	7,700	7,700
QLTR	1,380	59,010
Returned Funds	-	41,418
General SCF Reserve	7,527	98,163
Balance held at the SCF at 31 March	222,735	265,453

As a result of the review of cash management and bank balances carried out by the Scottish Government in 2019-20, as noted in the Governance Statement, components of the balance held in the Fund previously included as part of the General SCF Reserve are shown separately. The 2018-19 balance has been restated on the same basis.

The NHS Trusts balance is the cash balance remaining after these bodies were wound up, which was paid into the Fund in 1999-2000.

The power to create a Scotland Reserve is part of the agreement between the Scottish Government and the United Kingdom Government on the Scottish Government’s fiscal framework dated February 2016 (“the Fiscal Framework”) to allow a reserve to be built up when tax revenues are higher than forecast in order to smooth spending and manage tax revenue volatility. £126.47 million was transferred to the Reserve in 2019-20, which together with the Lochaber Fee Income Scotland of £7.7 million comprise part of the Scotland Reserve.

Details of the Queen’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer balance held in the Fund and its derivation are set out in note 8.

The sums returned by funded bodies are an accumulation of funding paid out to bodies directly funded by the Scottish Consolidated Fund over a number of years, parts of which these bodies have elected to repay into the Fund.

The balance on the General Reserve of the Scottish Consolidated Fund does not necessarily represent an amount available for appropriation by a Budget Act or other means.

In particular, non-domestic rates paid to and by Scottish Ministers are credited to, or drawn from the Scottish Consolidated Fund and are accounted for in more detail in a separate non-domestic rating account.