Shona Robison ‘delays’ Scottish Budget date to January 15

Scotland’s Finance Secretary is “minded” to unveil her draft Budget for next year on January 15.

Shona Robison had already warned MSPs that she maybe unable to bring forward her tax and spending plans before Holyrood’s Christmas break, saying this was because of Westminster’s Budget date.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will not unveil her proposals until November 26, with Ms Robison having already complained it is “deeply disappointing” the Treasury failed to inform Scottish ministers of the date before it was announced.

In a letter to Holyrood’s Finance Committee, Ms Robison said that the date of the UK Budget meant a “delay to the Scottish Budget and associated publications is now unavoidable”.

The Finance Secretary insisted she had considered making her draft Budget statement before Holyrood finishes for the festive period.

The last day MSPs will sit before Christmas will be Thursday December 18 – more than three weeks after Ms Reeves announces the UK Budget.

However, Ms Robison said that the “existing arrangements” with the Scottish Fiscal Commission mean that if she was to make her draft Budget statement before Christmas, she would be left with “only four working days to decide how to respond to any tax or social security policy changes announced by the UK Government on  November 26”.

The Finance Secretary said: “Taking all of this into account, I am minded to propose Thursday, January 15 2026, as the publication date for the Scottish Budget and associated documents.”

That would mean the Scottish Budget for 2026-27 would be published less than four months before the next Holyrood election on May 7 2026 – and that the Scottish Government would have only about two  months to get its Budget Bill through the Parliament before it finishes ahead of the election campaign.