Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of funding from the public purse spent by the Scottish Government on reserved areas, including (a) overseas offices, (b) the constitution and (c) work undertaken by civil servants on reserved areas in the most recent period for which figures are available.

The International Relations reservation set out in the Scotland Act 1998 is clear that the United Kingdom Government is responsible for international relations. The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) promotes the international interests of the United Kingdom and all its constituent parts. The UK Government recognises that the devolved administrations will have an interest in international policy making in relation to devolved matters and also in obligations touching on devolved matters that the UK may agree as a result of concluding international agreements (including UN Conventions). Such work is conducted by the Scottish Government, including from a number of overseas offices, which are usually co-located with British overseas missions.

The UK Government has been very clear that our immediate responsibility must be the economic recovery from the consequences of the pandemic, supporting people back into work and building back better.

In accordance with the Statement of Funding Policy and the Scottish Fiscal Framework, the Scottish Government is not required to set out its spending decisions to the UK Parliament. The Scottish Parliament, its MSPs, the committees and independent bodies, such as Audit Scotland, scrutinise the Scottish Government’s spending decisions.

In addition, the Scottish Government published this year’s National Statistics on public spending in Scotland - Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland - on 18 August 2021, including estimates of public sector expenditure by organisation and type of spend.