Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Scottish Government on the effect of the cancellation of the Autumn Budget on the devolved budget and furlough arrangements.

At all stages of the pandemic the UK Government has sought to work constructively with the devolved administration in Scotland and will continue to do so.

HM Treasury made an unprecedented upfront guarantee to the devolved administrations, guaranteeing Scotland would receive at least £7.2 billion in additional funding this year on top of their Budget 2020 funding. This gives Scotland the budget certainty for coronavirus response in the months ahead.

In addition, the UK Government has taken substantial action to rescue the economy from the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, including through the Plan for Jobs, published in July.

In September, the Chancellor announced a targeted package of measures in his Winter Economic Plan to support jobs and business through the winter months, by supporting businesses to keep staff on through the introduction of a new Job Support Scheme and an extension to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) Grant.