Letter to the Chancellor ahead of Budget 2026

Ahead of the Budget on 28 October, Scotland 2050 wrote to the Rt Hon John Healey MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, setting out seven practical asks. Given the current fiscal position, we're not asking for large sums of new money. Instead, we're asking that existing funding is reprioritised, that commitments already made are honoured, and that the Scottish Government is given the powers to deliver more.

Our seven asks:

• Energy - confirm remaining funding for Great British Energy in Aberdeen, and support transitional arrangements on transmission charging ahead of 2029 reform

• Scale-ups - implement the Business and Trade Committee's recommendations to stop Scottish scale-ups being acquired before they reach maturity

• Grangemouth - publish what's currently in the investment pipeline, and clarify what happens to the £200 million if no proposition meets the National Wealth Fund's criteria

• Port investment - extend accelerated tax allowances to qualifying port infrastructure outside Green Freeport sites

• US pre-clearance - support and expedite agreement for passenger pre-clearance at Scottish airports

• Borrowing powers - confirm the Fiscal Framework Review will cover capital borrowing limits, indexation, repayment terms and the Scotland Reserve

• AI and workers - ensure support for workers displaced by automation is designed ahead of time, not after the fact

This builds on the proposals set out in our 2026 manifesto.