30 June 2006
The Scottish Executive and other public sector bodies failed to spend £235m of their budgeted expenditure last year, according to figures released this week.
Finance Minister Tom McCabe announced that the total level of unspent resources for Executive portfolios in 2005/06 was £171m, and a further £64m for arm's-length agencies such as Scottish Water and the health boards.
McCabe stressed that the underspent resources - measured against figures in the revised spring budget — were equivalent to less than 1% of the total budget of £26.5bn.
The underspend was disclosed when the finance minister gave details of 'end of year flexibility' which allows the Executive to carry forward any unspent resources from one year to the next.
McCabe said the figure compared well with last year's underspend of £281m, and he claimed it was the lowest since devolution in 1999.
McCabe argued that the figures were good news. He said: 'By effectively managing within last year's budget, and having the ability to carry forward resources from last year into this year via the EYF mechanism, we can deliver much more.'
PFjun2006
