A currency union between an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK would require agreements on public spending that would amount to a ‘ceding of national sovereignty’, the governor of the Bank...
The funding and international reputation of Scotland’s universities is being damaged by the UK coalition government’s ‘nasty’ and ‘xenophobic’ immigration policies, Scottish Education Secretary...
The true cost of delivering local authority services in Scotland is being under-estimated by nearly £1bn per annum, a deficit equivalent to £175 for every individual in the land, CIPFA Scotland has...
Scotland’s health secretary, Alex Neil, has ordered health boards to cut back on purchases of care from the private sector, even though levels are already far below those in England.
A vote for independence would require Scotland’s 32 councils to be given more autonomy too, their finance directors agreed at PF’s recent dinner debate
The Scottish Government has rejected David Cameron’s plan to boost the shale gas industry through fiscal incentives to local authorities, and warned any fracking projects proposed in Scotland would...
The government today said it will guarantee all UK public sector debt even if Scotland votes for independence. This assurance comes amid concerns that financial markets could start charging the...
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has launched the second stage of its commission to develop a plan to localise public services and council funding in Scotland.
Nearly two-thirds of Scots would be willing to pay more in council tax if the money raised was guaranteed to boost local services like schools and adult social care, a poll has found
A committee of MPs has called on the government to scrap the so-called bedroom tax after finding that the reform had placed a ‘cruel burden’ on vulnerable people.
Scotland’s council tax freeze will continue for a seventh year after Finance Secretary John Swinney announced that the funding given to councils for 2014/15 would be increased in cash terms.
Holyrood’s finance committee has welcomed the focus on preventative spending in the Scottish Government’s Budget, but warned the approach could be held back by other parts of the public sector.
Scotland’s government departments, councils and agencies must gear up for tougher standards of governance, irrespective of the outcome of next September’s independence referendum, the chief executive...
Scotland’s public finances are robust enough to support independence and will only get stronger should the country leave the Union, the Scottish Government said today as it set out its vision for...
Local communities in England lose £4.1bn each year to the UK’s devolved nations through the ‘outdated’ Barnett Formula for distributing public spending, the Local Government Association has claimed...
Scottish ministers have hit back at this week’s bleak Institute for Fiscal Studies scenario for independence, claiming that Scotland's control over its own economic destiny could create more than 100...
An independent Scotland would need to make ‘significant’ cuts in public spending, or increase taxes, in order to put its public finances on a sustainable long-term footing, the Institute for Fiscal...
The merger of Scotland’s eight police forces into one national service faces ‘significant challenges’ if it is to secure the £1.1bn worth of savings expected from the reform, auditors have warned.
Policy making by public bodies in Scotland should be opened up to a much more representative cross-section of the population, according to a report commissioned by the Left-leaning Jimmy Reid...
Independence could give Scotland the opportunity to build a tax regime that is both economically competitive and fiscally sound, according to two new reports from the Scottish Government’s Fiscal...
Chancellor George Osborne’s pledge to keep Britain’s public finances in surplus could drive the Scots out of the United Kingdom, a former first minister of Scotland has told Public Finance
Scotland’s 32 local authorities voted today to impose a two-year pay settlement on their staff after almost a year of negotiations with the trade unions failed to bring about an agreement
