The Scottish Consolidated Fund Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024

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 Income Tax

The Scotland Act 2012 Section 25 empowers the Scottish Parliament to set a Scottish Rate of Income Tax for Scottish taxpayers with effect from 6 April 2016. Income tax revenues derived from Scottish taxpayers were assigned to the Scottish Administration commencing from 2016-17.

4. Non-Domestic Rates Income

Non-Domestic Rates Income (NDRI) is collected by the local authorities. These funds are then pooled, and a distributable amount set by the Scottish Government. This distributable amount is then added to the General Revenue Grant funding that local authorities receive through their weekly payments. This funding does not come directly to the SCF as cashflows, so it is represented here as a notional receipt. Further information about the NDRI can be found in Non-Domestic Rating Account, last published in November 2023^[1].

5. National Insurance Contributions

National Insurance Contributions from Scottish taxpayers are collected by HMRC and paid into the SCF as a funding stream for NHS Scotland.

6. Receipts from Devolved Taxes

During 2023-24 Revenue Scotland paid £878 million to the Scottish Consolidated Fund in respect of the two fully devolved taxes.

7. 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:

The repayment of borrowing is scheduled as follows:

Details of loans taken out are as follows:

More details on Scottish Government borrowing can be found in the Fiscal Framework Outturn^[2] Report most recently published in September 2023.

8. Voluntary Donations

During 2020-21, a procedure was instituted in co-ordination with the UK Government and the other Devolved Administrations to allow businesses in receipt of non-domestic rates relief to voluntarily repay some or all that relief. Businesses who chose to do so in Scotland were directed to make repayments into the SCF.

9. 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 2023-24 amounted to £20 million (2022-23: £18 million, plus £103 million related to net Scot Wind revenue)

10. Fines, Forfeitures and Fixed Penalties

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

11. 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. No transfer of reserves to the Fund took place under these provisions in 2023-24, only the surplus of cash previously advanced (restated 2022-23: £nil).

12. Receipts from and payments to the UK Contingencies Fund

The UK Contingencies Fund is used to finance payments for urgent services in anticipation of UK Parliamentary provision for those services becoming available, and to provide funds required temporarily by government departments for necessary working balances, or to meet other temporary cash deficiencies.

A successful application was made for a short-term Contingencies Fund advance of £704 million based on the forecast funding required in March 2024, being the excess of funding required over the remaining UK Main Estimates Budget cash requirement (available cash funding limit) for Scotland. An increase in the Scotland cash requirement was included in the UK Spring Supplementary Budget, which became available after the relevant legislation received Royal Assent in March. The actual repayment to the UK Contingencies Fund was made directly by the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland on their receipt of cash grant from HM Treasury. As a result, repayments from the Scottish Government to the SCF and from the SCF to the UK Contingencies Fund were notional and do not represent physical cashflows. The transactions involved were as follows:

13. National Loans Fund repayments

Prior to 1 July 1999, the Secretary of State for Scotland lent money to several Scottish bodies out of the National Loans Fund. At 1 July 1999, the right to the sums outstanding was transferred to the Scottish Ministers who must pay the repayments and interest to the Secretary of State for Scotland via the Scottish Consolidated Fund. The remaining NLF loans are with Scottish Water and Registers of Scotland. The SCF Receipts and Payments account includes receipts from those bodies and corresponding payments to the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland.

14. Receipts for the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer

The King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (KLTR) – previously the Queen’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (QLTR) - is the representative of the Crown 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 into the SCF and remains there until Scottish Parliament authorisation to draw the balances down is obtained in the Budget Act.

The balance of King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer receipts paid into the SCF is as follows:

15. Analysis of other receipts

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 are authorised to be used to support Scottish Administration expenditure under the Budget Act except for the designated receipts accruing from bank interest which are required to be surrendered to HMT through Scotland Office.

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 10, 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 receipts paid into the SCF during 2023-24 include £10 million (2022-23: £12 million) recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act (see Note 18) and £1 million (2022-23: £470k) recovered under the Victim Surcharge provision (see Note 19) by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. CFER receipts surrendered to the SCF in previous years by Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service were repaid during 2023-24 totalling £49k.

Except for designated receipts, all others have been classed as receipts authorised to support expenditure and have been included in the Funding section of the Receipts and Payments Account.

During 2023-24, CFER payments of £471k were paid to Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland.

16. Payments authorised under the Budget Acts

For the period of this account the Scottish Parliament approved Budget (Scotland) Act 2023 (ASP 2) as amended by the Budget (Scotland) Act 2023 Amendment Regulations 2023 (SSI 2023/357) and the Budget (Scotland) Act 2023 Amendment Regulations 2024 (SSI 2024/99).

These Orders appropriate sums out of the Scottish Consolidated Fund for the financial year ending 31 March 2024 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.

The balance paid to Scottish Government includes £3,047 million related to the distribution of Non-Domestic Rates Income to local authorities by the SG. As with Non-Domestic Rates Income (see Note 4), this does not represent an actual cashflow and is included here as a notional payment.

In 2023-24, the SCF was required by statute 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 by the Scottish Government to other Scottish public sector bodies. These are referred to as indirectly funded bodies.

17. Judicial Salaries

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 2023 report is available online^[3].

Scottish Government operates a separate bank account, funded directly from the Scottish Consolidated Fund.

Receipts and Payments Account

For the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024

Summary of the balance held at the Government Banking Service:

The number (FTE) of paid judiciary in post was:

18. Proceeds of Crime Receipts

The net balance of Proceeds of Crime (POCA) receipts in the SCF is as follows:

POCA is a source of SG funding and all Justice requirements for applications of POCA are funded from within the general SG funding envelope. This is reflected in the Receipts and Payments Statement and is separate from the management of the cash within the SCF reflected in this note.

19. Victim Surcharge receipts

The Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014 includes powers to introduce a Victim Surcharge, payable by offenders convicted of specified offences. The Victim Surcharge (Scotland) Regulations 2019 set up a Victim Surcharge Fund, and set out procedures for its administration, including the collection and allocation of funds. Victim Surcharges receipts are being paid into the SCF since 2020-21, where they are held pending payment to the Scottish Government for allocation.

20. Analysis of the balance held in the Scottish Consolidated Fund

Details of the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer balance held in the Fund and its derivation are set out in Note 14. Sums due to funded bodies not yet paid include balances related to Proceeds of Crime, Victims Surcharge and Restitution Fund receipts.

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.