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Devolution: Powers
Since the formation of the Scottish Government and Parliament in 1999, Scotland has had considerable powers devolved from Westminster.
The 1998, 2012 and 2016 Scotland Acts all saw its powers over public services, taxation and welfare benefits expanded.
The 1998 Scotland Act ruled that anything that was not explicitly written as reserved powers (ones still managed by the UK government), would automatically be a devolved responsibility (Scottish Parliament).
Devolved Matters | Reserved Matters |
Health & Social Care | Defence |
Education & Training | International Relations |
Local Government | Currency |
Police | Immigration |
Environment | Most Business Regulation |
Transport | Most Social Security Payments |
Justice | |
Tourism & Economic Development | |
Economic Development | |
Sports and the Arts | |
Equal Opportunities | |
Housing |
Devolution: Revenues and Expenditure
Total revenues in Scotland are collected by the Scottish Government, Local Government and by the UK Government to pay for spending in each government. This includes assigned revenues, which are collected by the UK government and transferred to the Scottish Government.
You can download the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) 2020-21 report and database below:
government-expenditure-revenue-scotland-2021-22.pdf1107.8KB
main-charts-tables-2021-22.xlsx363.4KB
The annual Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) report allows us to understand this mix of spending in Scotland. The Fraser of Allander Institute has a helpful guide on understanding the report.
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Knowledge Checkpoint: Describe the economic powers devolved to the Scottish Parliament
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Knowledge Checkpoint: Can you name some examples of policies demonstrating devolution in action?
What is GERS?
GERS is an annual estimate of the Scottish fiscal position.
- It provides a summary of how much revenue is raised in Scotland, how much the country pays for the public services consumed, and to what extent the revenues raised cover the costs of these public services (FAI).
- GERS captures entire public sector spending in Scotland (FAI). It does this by measuring total spending for the benefit of the people of Scotland by the Scottish Government, Local Government and the UK government.
Remember, the Scottish Government’s spending responsibilities include only devolved areas. Similarly, the UK government’s spending responsibilities include only reserved areas.
What does UK spending decisions mean for Scotland?
The May 2022 Spending Review laid out the Scottish Government’s spending plans from 2023/24 to 2026/27. The government warned that the outlook was challenging.
- The block grant from the UK government – the key factor determining the size of the Scottish budget – is projected to barely increase at all in real terms between 2022/23 and 2025/26, and then increase slightly in the final year of the forecast.
