The 2025-26 Budget will deliver progress for the people of
Scotland, with a record increase in frontline NHS spending, and
plans to lift 15,000 children out of poverty by mitigating the UK
Government's two-child limit from 2026.
Setting out the Budget to Parliament, Finance Secretary said the government had
listened and would now act on the priorities of people,
businesses and organisations across the country – delivering
progress for Scotland, by Scotland.
The 2025-26 Budget includes:
- a record £2 billion increase in frontline NHS spending taking
overall health and social care investment to £21 billion to
reduce NHS waiting lists, making it easier for people to see
their GP, and progress the Belford Hospital, Monklands Hospital
and Edinburgh Eye Pavilion projects
- funding for universal winter heating payments for older
Scots, and investment to allow the mitigation of the two-child
cap from 2026
- tax choices that freeze income tax rates, increase the Basic
and Intermediate rate thresholds to put more money in the pockets
of low and middle-income earners, and provide business rates
relief for hard-pressed local pubs and restaurants
- a record £15 billion for local government to support the
services communities rely on and £768 million to provide 8,000
more affordable homes
- £4.9 billion of action on the climate and nature crises to
lower emissions and energy bills, protect the environment, and
create new jobs and opportunities
- a real-terms uplift of 3% for spending on education and
skills to maintain teacher levels and invest in school
infrastructure, as well as new funding to put more breakfast
clubs in primary schools
- a £34 million uplift for culture in 2025-26
The Finance Secretary said:
“I am proud to present a budget that delivers on the priorities
of the people of Scotland.
“Parliament can show that we understand the pressures people are
facing. We can choose to come together to bring hope to people,
to renew our public services, and deliver a wealth of new
opportunities in our economy.
“This Budget invests in public services, lifts children out of
poverty, acts in the face of the climate emergency, and supports
jobs and economic growth.
“It is a budget filled with hope for Scotland's future and I look
forward to working with all parties in Parliament to secure
agreement around its provisions.”
Background
Scottish Budget 2025 to
2026 - gov.scot
The 2025-26 Scottish Budget also includes:
- £6.9 billion total investment in social security, including
the Scottish Child Payment
- almost £4.2 billion across the justice system in 2025-26,
including £1.62 billion for policing to support capacity and
capability, £881.1 million for prisons, including £347 million
for the prison estate to deliver HMP Glasgow and HMP Highland,
and £159 million for community justice services to support the
wider use of community interventions
- over £2.6 billion towards public transport to support bus,
rail and ferry services and increases the dedicated funding
available to the four councils operating their own ferry services
to £50.3 million
- over £660 million for rural communities to support the
crucial contribution of Scotland's farmers, crofters and the
wider rural economy
- almost £90 million to protect, maintain and increase our
woodlands and peatlands, to restore more than 15,000 hectares of
degraded peatland and ensure the creation of more than 11,000
hectares of woodland across Scotland
- a £34 million uplift for culture in 2025-26, building on the
£15.8 million increase in the last Budget to take the total
incremental increase in culture funding to almost £50 million –
the halfway point in our commitment to increase funding to
culture and the arts by £100 million more annually by 2028-29
- £6 million for the National Islands Plan to deliver
infrastructure projects designed in partnership with islanders to
support successful and resilient island communities
- protection for free tuition and a 3.5% increase in total
investment in Higher Education, compared to a 3.08% increase in
university funding in England
