Explainers

Block Grant Adjustments

The fiscal framework describes how funding for the Scottish Budget should be adjusted following devolution of taxes and social security. These funding changes are called Block Grant Adjustments (BGAs).

Tax BGAs remove funding from the Scottish Budget because the Scottish Government is now raising its own tax revenue. Social security BGAs add funding because the Scottish Government has become responsible for some social security payments.

BGAs are originally based on revenues or spending in Scotland the year before devolution of the relevant tax or payment. They are then updated each year in line with changes in equivalent UK Government devolved revenue or social security spending per head. The adjustments reflect the hypothetical amount that would have been raised or spent in Scotland if the taxes and payments had not been devolved.

We include the relevant BGAs in each of our forecast publications.