Autumn Statement - What Does This Mean For Scotland?

24th November 2023

The two main tax measures - lower NICs and making full expensing permanent - are UK-wide, and apply automatically in Scotland.

Some other measures announced are England-only, and therefore bring with them additional funding for the Scottish Government through the Barnett formula, totalling £233m in this financial year and £281m in the next.

The main measures generating consequentials are:

The funding of the pay award for the NHS in England in 2023-24, which generates £235m;
The 75% relief on business rates in England for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in 2024-25, up to a £110,000 cash cap, which generates £232m;
Freezing the small business multiplier in England in 2024-25, which generates £32m.
As these are devolved matters, the Scottish Government receives this funding but is under no obligation to match the policies announced by Westminster. For example, the retail, hospitality and leisure relief is a repeat of the measure for 2023-24, which the Scottish Government decided not to pass on and spent elsewhere. So this is one to watch out for at next month's Scottish Budget.

Settlements with the Treasury are only fully determined until 2024-25, when the current spending review period finishes. Nevertheless, the UK Government budgets on a 5-year basis, and has to give the OBR an indicative assumption for departmental and devolved spending. This is a technical detail, and is only indicative at this time, but the OBR's forecast incorporates a slightly higher spending assumption than it did in March, whose consequences are buried deep in our favourite supplementary table 3.11. If this did come to pass, it would mean Scottish Government spending power being higher in each year by between £1.1bn and £1.4bn from 2025-26 onwards.

Source
https://fraserofallander.org/autumn-statement-reaction-a-tax-cutting-statement-that-continues-to-raise-taxes-amid-slowing-growth-and-what-does-this-mean-for-scotland/