Falling North Sea revenue contributes to a deterioration in Scotland's net fiscal balance, whilst expenditure also grows faster than onshore revenue. Scotland's net fiscal balance has worsened since last year, with North Sea revenue falling for a second year in a row.
The company entered administration owing more than £3 million. David Smith submitted false VAT returns on behalf of long-established Scottish machinery firm Balgownie Limited across a three-year period.
The First Minister has (12 August 2025) opened a new £26 million facility to help grow more trees for Scotland's forests and woodlands. Newton Tree Nursery, near Elgin, will support Forestry and Land Scotland to almost treble their tree production - from seven million to nearly 20 million trees per year by 2029.
Fraser of Allender looks at the deficit showed in the GERS report today. Higher devolved expenditure is the main driver of the widening deficit.
Eligible households encouraged to check they are named on their electricity bill to automatically benefit from the Warm Home Discount this winter. Government issues reminder to those on eligible means-tested benefits to check they are named on their electricity bill to get £150 off this winter.
From autumn 2025, driving theory tests will include new CPR questions and, for the first time, questions about defibrillators to boost cardiac arrest survival. Driving theory tests will include enhanced first aid questions from autumn 2025, building on existing first aid content that has been part of driver education for years.
Public spending is £2,669 per person in higher in Scotland, according to new Scottish Government figures. The Scottish Government's Government Expenditure and Revenue (GERS) figures for 2024-25 show that people in Scotland benefit by £2,669 more per head of additional spending compared to the UK average, as a result of the redistribution of wealth throughout the UK, and the impact of our Plan for Change.
Scotland's councils urgently need to make progress with workforce plans if they are to protect services and financial sustainability. Staff are councils' most important resource and are vital in delivering services and meeting Scotland's changing and increasing needs.
A landmark UK programme has successfully concluded after delivering major reforms across Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The UK's Sub-National Governance Programme ran from 2019 to 2025, unlocking over £1.9 billion in public finance through improved planning, budgeting, and revenue mobilisation.
The Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund will help more people get online, drive economic growth and raise living standards, as part of the Plan for Change. More people will be supported to get online through new government fund helping to drive economic growth and raise living standards as part of the Plan for Change.
We talk about capital as if it's only money or machines, but that's a dangerously narrow view. In this video, I unpack the six forms of capital we should measure, protect, and value: productive, financial, human, natural, environmental, and societal.
Rachel Reeves is said to face a £40-50 billion budget shortfall. One fair, simple solution? VAT on financial services.
The following information is for the period from April to June 2025. Annual growth in employees' average earnings was 5.0% for regular earnings (excluding bonuses) and 4.6% for total earnings (including bonuses).
Tens of thousands of future construction workers to be trained up in high-demand construction skills by 2029, delivering growth and helping build new homes. More than 40,000 future builders, bricklayers, electricians, carpenters and plumbers will get cutting edge skills to get Britain building at state-of-the-art Technical Excellence Colleges unveiled today (Tuesday 12 August).
In a first for rail travel anywhere in Britain, peak fares are set to be scrapped for good for customers travelling on ScotRail services from 1 September. The policy announced by the Scottish Government in May this year is aiming to make train fares simpler, more flexible, and provide better value for money for rail users.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes has announced support for almost 80 organisations delivering regeneration projects, to realise the economic potential of Scotland's communities. She confirmed that more than £2.5 million has been allocated from the Strengthening Communities Programme in 2025-26 to continue supporting 62 organisations and begin work with a further 15.
The UK labour market continued to weaken - shedding a further 8,000 jobs in June, and 165,000 since its recent peak last October, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday 12 August 2025) in response to the latest ONS labour market statistics. The weakening of the jobs market is laid bare both in RTI payroll data – in which the number of jobs fell for the sixth consecutive month – and the number of vacancies, which has now been falling steadily since early 2022, and fell to 718,000 in June (a fall of 44,000 on the quarter).
the UK Government released their long-awaited Small Business Plan. techUK welcomes this as a vocal statement of Government support for SMEs, which recognises the importance of digitisation for boosting SME productivity.
In 2024, Purple Beard partnered with Virgin Media O2 Business to launch a social value pilot project aimed at equipping women - either unemployed or returning to the workforce - with essential data skills. This initiative was designed to support underrepresented talent in London into tech careers, while advancing gender inclusion in the digital economy.
Estimates from January to March 2025 include the full effect of the improvements in Labour Force Survey (LFS) data collection and sampling methods introduced from January 2024; however, estimates may be subject to the effect of further ongoing improvements. An increased amount of volatility will remain in the LFS estimates from mid-2023 and throughout 2024, so we advise additional caution when interpreting change involving those periods.