£4bn budget warning
SCOTLAND's budget could be cut by £4 billion if the Barnett formula was scrapped and funding calculated on how much the country needed, a report on devolution funding commissioned by the Welsh Assembly claimed.
Authors David Miles and Gerald Holtham said the formula should be abolished as it did not allocate money fairly across the UK because it was based on population and not what was needed to pay for public services in different areas of the UK.
"An assessment consistent with those used to distribute health, local government and education spending around England could eventually result in Scotland getting as much as 4bn less than it currently does," Mr Miles and Mr Holtham wrote.
The report, "Fairness and Responsibility", called for a reform of devolution that would see the Welsh Assembly handed powers to vary income tax levels in their country by up to 3p in the pound, a power already held by Holyrood.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Scottish independence: I don’t want ‘separatism’ says Sir Tom Farmer
- Leveson Inquiry: Tony Blair defends ‘working relationship’ with Rupert Murdoch
- Police investigate death of man, 31, on West Highland Way
- Craig Levein insists Scotland will recover from US thrashing
- The Rumour Mill: Monday’s football news and gossip
- Scottish independence: I don’t want ‘separatism’ says Sir Tom Farmer
- The Rumour Mill: Monday’s football news and gossip
- Craig Levein insists Scotland will recover from US thrashing
- James McPake set for Coventry talks as Hibs wait in wings
- Scottish independence: Labour voters ‘will deliver independence’
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Edinburgh
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North east
