Ministers from the Scotland Office did not hold any dedicated recorded meetings with their counterparts from the Treasury in the run up to the Chancellor's autumn statement, it can be revealed.

Under freedom of information legislation the SNP found that no two way meetings were held between the Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, or any of his ministers, and Jeremy Hunt or members of his ministerial team.

The SNP, which had submitted the FoI request, said the lack of direct talks between the two sets of government ministers was evidence that "Westminster is not working for Scotland."

But the Scotland Office pointed out that while there were no specific meetings in the weeks before the statement on November 23, Mr Jack, Mr Hunt and the chief secretary to the treasury all attended Cabinet together during the period. Laura Trott was appointed to the chief secretary to the treasury on November 13, and succeeded John Glen.

Sources this evening at the Scotland Office tonight clarified that Mr Hunt and Mr Jack did meet personally to discuss the autumn statement.

A letter sent from the Treasury in response for details of any such meetings between August 1 and September 17 said: "Following a search of our records, we can confirm that HM Treasury does not hold information within the scope of your request.

"To clarify the Chancellor of the Exchequer The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP and no other HM Treasury minister has had an official meeting with the Secretary of State for Scotland, or any other Scottish minister between 01/08/2023 and 17/09/2023."

A follow up inquiry asked for any such meetings between October 1 and November 17 last year. 
In response, the Treasury said: "Following a search of our records, we can confirm that HM Treasury does not hold information within the scope of your request.

"There were no direct meetings between any Treasury Ministers and any Scotland Office Ministers in the period 01/10/2023 to 17/11/2023, however the Chancellor, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and the Secretary of State for Scotland would have all attended Cabinet together over this period."

SNP MSP Kenny Gibson said: "It is clear that Westminster is not working for Scotland, and now even the office which is supposed to represent us can’t be bothered showing up. The budget delivered by the Chancellor was devastating to Scotland’s public services and did nothing to alleviate Westminster’s economic ruin.

“The Tories' neglect of Scotland will see them removed from government this year – and it cannot come soon enough.”

Among the headline measures, the Chancellor announced was increased funding to the Scottish Government by £545m over the next two financial years and a cut to National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from the current 12% rate to 10% from January 6, 2024 across the UK.

Deputy First Minister Shona Robison, who is also the finance secretary, said the autumn statement failed to deliver properly on the cost of living crisis and on the climate crisis.

Delivering her draft budget to Holyrood last month she told MSPs that the Chancellor's statement had represented a “worst-case scenario” for Scotland and that the UK government had “prioritised tax cuts at the expense of public services”.

She said the block grant - money transferred by UK government to Scotland each year to fund public services - had fallen by 1.2% in real terms since 2022-23.

A UK Government spokesperson said: "This claim is obviously nonsense. The Scotland Office and HM Treasury meet frequently at Ministerial and official levels to ensure that Scottish interests are fully represented at the heart of UK Government. 

"We worked closely together over the Autumn Statement which brought great benefits for Scotland's hard-working families, including the National Insurance cut, rise in the living wage and confirmation of more than £200million of new direct investment in projects across Scotland. The freeze on spirits duty was also welcomed and there was an additional £545 million in Barnett Consequentials for the Scottish Government, on top of their record block grant.

 "We will continue to collaborate with HMT and across the UK Government and other partners as we deliver nearly £3 billion of investment directly into Scotland."