Audit Scotland
Public spending watchdog that audits the Scottish Government and Scottish public bodies.
Audit Scotland's report for the Auditor General, published on 17 September 2026, found Holyrood had budgeted £1.1bn of ScotWind fee drawdowns across three years and drawn none of it.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026
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Reported on 17 September that Holyrood budgeted £1.1bn of ScotWind drawdowns and drew none
Is Britain Actually Broke?: Holyrood booked £1.1bn of ScotWind drawsBackground
Audit Scotland prepared the Auditor General for Scotland's report on the management of the ScotWind leasing round, published on 17 September 2026. It found the Scottish Government had built a drawdown of offshore wind option fees into three budgets in a row, £310m, £424m and £364m from 2023-24, and drawn nothing each time. Each planned draw was reversed at the spring revision or at year end.
Audit Scotland is a statutory body created by the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000. It provides the staff and services that the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission need to Audit Scotland's public sector. Its board is the Auditor General, the Accounts Commission chair and three appointed members. It reports that its work covers about 250 public accounts and almost £70bn of public spending.
The ScotWind findings reach beyond one budget line. Ministers expect to draw a further £507m by 2031. The watchdog says that leaning on one-off receipts to balance each year's budget weakens control of spending.