Chancellor pledges 'largest settlement since devolution' for Scotland

The chancellor has pledged the "largest settlement in real terms since devolution" for Scotland as part of the UK government's spending review.

Rachel Reeves promised £52bn for Scotland as she unveiled a raft of investments for north of the border, including increased spending on defence, development funding for a carbon capture project, and money to reboot plans for the UK's most powerful supercomputer. The Scottish government will receive an average block grant of £50.9bn per year between 2026-27 and 2028-29.

Ms Reeves told MPs: "This spending review provides the largest settlement in real terms since devolution was introduced." Spending review latest: Chancellor delivers big money to NHS The UK government said the money will allow the Scottish government to be able to "spend more on its priorities such as funding NHS Scotland, education, transport and welfare". However, Scotland's finance secretary Shona Robison said it "fails to deliver" and has "short-changed" the nation by more than a billion pounds, as she warned spending levels for public services will "fail to offset the impact of proposed cuts to welfare support and the rise in national insurance contributions".

Ms Reeves announced a £250m investment for HM Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde. The Royal Navy base - commonly known as Faslane - houses the UK's nuclear submarines.

The funding, part of the Clyde 2070 programme, will be injected over the next three years. 'Next industrial revolution' The chancellor also pledged development funding for the Acorn carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire in a bid to aid "Scotland's transition from oil and gas to low carbon technology".

However, it is yet to be confirmed how much money will be allocated to the project - which will store carbon emissions from across Scotland under the North Sea. Aberdeen-headquartered Great British Energy and Great British Energy - Nuclear will invest more than £8.3bn over the parliament in homegrown clean power, alongside establishing a new government campus for energy.

Ms Reeves stated: "These are investments to make sure the towns and cities which powered the last industrial revolution will play their part in our next industrial revolution to reduce our reliance on overseas oil and gas and protect working families from price shocks." Scotland will also receive £452m over four years to continue the delivery of City and Growth Deals across the nation. In addition, the Scottish capital will also become home to the UK's most powerful supercomputer.

Ms Reeves had earlier revealed up to a further £750m would be allocated to the University of Edinburgh project. The funding reinstates a scheme that was scrapped last year by Labour as it had not been funded by the outgoing Conservative government.

It is hoped the cash injection will "kickstart economic growth" and is part of efforts to strengthen "Britain's position as an AI-maker and research power". The supercomputer will aid scientists in cutting-edge research, whether that's personalised medical treatments, sustainable air travel, or modelling climate change.

The government said the new supercomputer will "vastly exceed" the capacity of the UK's current national supercomputer, ARCHER2. Read more:The key announcementsReeves pledges to end asylum hotels The Brand Scotland programme will receive £2.25m between 2026-2029 to continue promoting the nation's investment opportunities and its globally celebrated products around the world.

'Game-changing' review Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar praised the spending review as "game-changing.