The Shetland Islands Council’s 2026/27 budget will ensure that council-provided services across Shetland continue to deliver the best outcomes for Shetland in line with Council’s Corporate Plan “Our Ambitions 2025-30 and the Shetland Partnership Plan.
The Council delivers a wide range of services to the Shetland public and in 2026/27 we are to spend £266 million on these.
The Council manages a number of budgets:
- General Fund - for general day to day operational purposes - £189m
- Harbour Account - for the operation of various ports and harbours - £24m
- Housing Revenue Accounts - for the council's social housing stock - £9m
- Capital Account - for asset investment projects - £44m
Pension Fund
In addition we are the administering authority for the Shetland Islands Council Pension Fund. The Pension Fund has an operational budget for 2026/27 of £29m.
The Pension Fund website contains information regarding pensions.
Investments
The Finance Service manages investments for both the Council and the Pension Fund, where both portfolios are diversified to reduce risk and have separate investment strategies. Risk is managed by having multiple fund managers, investments in different asset classes and by spreading the investments across the world.
At 31 March 2025 the value of investments was:
- Council Investments - £371m
- Pension Fund Investments - £782m
2026-27 Treasury Strategy & Annual Investment Strategy
Medium Term Financial Plan
The current Medium Term Financial Plan 2025 -30 was approved by Council on 6th October 2025.