Parliament research and fact sheets

Financial Scrutiny

A main part of an MSP’s role is to inspect and analyse Scottish Government spending. They do this as part of their job:

• in committee
• in the Chamber
• representing their constituency or region

The Financial Scrutiny Unit (FSU) works within SPICe. It gives independent analysis and support to Parliament committees and to MSPs. It advises on budgets and issues that affect the Scottish Government and Parliament. This includes:

• costs of specific spending proposals
• providing research on all areas of the economy and public finances 

The FSU: 

• helps MSPs scrutinise the budget effectively 
• produces financial costs and analysis
• provides economic information and analysis

The FSU produces briefings and blogs on a range of areas such as:

• the economy
• finance
• local government

You can find briefings on our Digital Hub and our blogs on SPICe Spotlight. SPICe has a range of explainer animations on the SPICe blog site.

The FSU also produce other resources and tools to help Members and committees with financial scrutiny.  

Scottish Government budget documents

• Scottish Budget 2024 to 2025

SPICe budget research

• A review of this year's Budget process
• Local government finance: Budget 2024-25 and provisional allocations to local authorities
• Accountability in budget scrutiny: do committees influence the Scottish Government's decisions?
• Main budget briefing: Scottish Budget 2024-25
• Scottish Budget 2024-25: in the bleak midwinter
• How can we track the impact of public policy on emissions in Scotland?
• The return of Budget Bingo - key themes in committees' pre-budget scrutiny for 2024-25
• The National Performance Framework and budget scrutiny

SPICe budget visuals

• Animation: budget process
• Scottish Budget 2024-25: Taxes Infographic
• Scottish Budget 2024-25: Infographic
• Explore budget hierarchy visually: Budget tool

SPICe budget tools

• Interactive budget comparison table with in-year changes
• Budget over time spreadsheet: SPICe 2024-25 budget Levels 1 to 3.xlsx
• Inflation-adjustment tool: GDP calculator
• Income tax calculator: How much income tax will I pay in 2024-25?

We would welcome any feedback from users. Please contact SPICe with your views.

Barnett consequentials and other funding changes 

UK Government budget announcements affect the Scottish budget. The UK Government may make changes on spending in areas that are devolved in Scotland. This can mean more funding is allocated to Scotland via consequentials. The Barnett formula calculates these resulting consequentials. These are based on Scotland’s population share of changes to UK Government spending in areas that are devolved in Scotland. 

Additional funding since the 2021 Spending Review (44KB xls)