Commenting on the the Scottish Government's Budget for 2022-2023, Adam Lang, Head of Nesta in Scotland, said:

“When we think about the importance of tackling the poverty related attainment gap, our longstanding poor public health record or the urgency required to decarbonise our homes and energy use, now is the time to back new and innovative approaches in Scotland.

"More of the same in these areas won’t cut it – we need to embrace new ways of working if we are going to deliver the scale of changes in these areas that are needed. It remains to be seen if the big figures announced in today’s budget will translate into new ideas or new ways of working on the ground to deliver this.

“The budget put significant funding against tackling child poverty, the net zero agenda and the welcome focus on a just transition to a low carbon society. However, we will need more information to understand whether this is a budget that will support the social innovation needed to rise to these challenges. As always, the devil will be in the detail of how the numbers translate to new ideas and the money actually gets spent."