Devolution talks end without deal

The latest talks between the Scottish and UK governments to reach a deal on new Holyrood powers have ended without agreement.

Picture: TSPL

Deputy first minister John Swinney and the Chief Treasury minister Greg Hands held their tenth meeting on the issue in London today.

The Scottish and UK governments are in dispute over the adjusted formula for Scotland’s block grant, with each side insisting their preferred formulas would be to the detriment of Scotland or the rest of the UK respectively.

However, it is understood that while progress was made in today’s talks, they broke up without an agreed deal.

It had been hoped that a deal could be struck before representatives of the UK and Scottish governments are due to outline their positions at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday.

Nicola Sturgeon had said an agreement had to be reached by the end of this week to give Holyrood enough time to scrutinise the fiscal framework for the Scotland Bill.