SCOTLAND’S block grant has fallen to its lowest share of Britain’s spending in almost a decade, according to a new report.

House of Commons Library research, commissioned by the SNP, found that the proportion of the Westminster government spending on Holyrood has fallen from 8.2 per cent in 2015-16 to 7.6 per cent by July this year.

The SNP said that the figures, which do not take into account the further devolution of tax and welfare responsibilities over that period or the recent spike in military spending, show the value of the block grant had fallen by £6.4 billion — or 12.7 per cent — since 2020-21.

Using the incomplete data to argue for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to abandon austerity in her Budget on Wednesday, SNP economy spokesman David Doogan said: “It’s vital that the Labour government finally listens to voters and abandons its devastating plan to impose billions of pounds of austerity cuts to public services and Scotland’s budget.

“The Scottish government has already had its budget slashed by Westminster.

“We cannot afford even more cuts from the Labour Party, which would take money away from our NHS, schools, police and vital infrastructure projects like affordable housing, roads and hospitals.

“Voters were promised change but instead Labour ministers have been lining their own pockets with thousands of pounds of freebies, while imposing painful austerity cuts on the rest of us.”

Ms Reeves has promised Labour’s first Budget in 15 years would mark a “reset” for Britain. 

But it has been reported that some departments have been asked to slash as much as 20 per cent of expenditure, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has warned that their efforts to close a claimed £22bn black hole in the government’s finances would be “painful.”

Mr Doogan said: “If they impose austerity cuts at Westminster, they will hit public services and communities right across Scotland — and they won’t be forgiven.”

Challenging both governments, socialist MSP and former Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: “In the last financial year the Scottish government’s budget was £54bn, including the benefits of the Barnett formula. 

“I would like to see more investment in welfare rather than warfare, more investment in public services like health and education and more not less support for our pensioners.

“Those should be the budget priorities, with rises in tax on wealth to fund it.”

HM Treasury was contacted for comment.