The First Minister announced on 17 October that, subject to market testing and due diligence, the Scottish Government will go directly to the bond market in our own right for the first time.

The issue of bonds is part of a wide-ranging package of recommendations from an investor panel of senior figures from investment finance. The Scottish Government will issue bonds when the value-for-money case supports it from a fiscal and economic perspective.

It is deeply disappointing that the Chancellor of the Exchequer failed to provide the funding that devolved Governments need in the autumn statement. That makes the challenges for our budget next year even more severe, so it is right that the Scottish Government pursues all of its fiscal and economic levers to boost investment in Scotland, including the issuance of bonds.

The next steps will be set out in the 2024-25 Scottish budget on 19 December.