Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with Ministers of the Scottish Government on the effect of declining oil prices on public finances in Scotland.

I regularly engage with Ministers of the Scottish Government on a wide range of economic matters. As last week’s independent OBR estimates show, revenues from the North Sea are forecast to be negative for the next three years. March’s GERS figures show Scotland’s public spending was almost £15 billion more than its tax revenue in the last financial year. Thankfully, the north east of Scotland can rely on the broad shoulders of the United Kingdom to see it through these difficult times.