Scots get £1,600 more than English, reckons Treasury

SCOTTISH and English MPs have clashed over calls to slash spending north of the Border after new figures showed that Scotland gets £1,600 per head more in state spending than England.

Treasury estimates for this financial year revealed that spending will hit £10,212 for every person in Scotland, compared with £8,588 for England.

The figures, released by Conservative Chancellor George Osborne, prompted fresh demands last night from Tory MPs in England for the funding formula which allocates Scotland its money to be redrawn so that it is based on current needs, in a move which would cut the sums coming north.

However, the calls prompted an angry response from both Nationalist and Unionist politicians in Scotland, who accused English Conservatives of attempting a cash raid on Scotland, based on ill-informed evidence.

SNP ministers said that claims of an English subsidy ignored the fact that Scotland’s oil-rich tax revenues mean the country more than pays its way across the UK.

The row comes amid warnings of resentment growing in England at what are seen as generous perks being offered by the Scottish Government, such as free university tuition and free prescriptions, neither of which are available south of the Border.

The new figures, published in the Treasury’s latest Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis, show that Scotland is ranked third in the UK league of spending, with per-head outlay higher only in London and Northern Ireland.

Scotland’s cash block is worked out through the Barnett Formula, which allocates money to different areas through a population-based calculation.

Across the UK, the biggest element of spending was on “social protection” such as benefits or pensions, with spending in Scotland well above the English average. The detailed figures showed that spending on sickness and disability in Scotland is estimated to be £807 per head this year, compared with £633 across England as a whole.

The country is also likely to spend far more caring for its elderly people – £1,663 per head compared with £1,481. Scotland is also set to out- spend England on education, particularly in primary schools, where spending is set to reach £520 per head to England’s £412.

In education and health, only London spends more per head than Scotland, although the figures show the gap in both areas has shrunk in recent years.

The country’s per-head costs are also inflated by the relatively large sums spent on transport and agriculture, a reflection of Scotland’s unique geography.

Even though London comes out as more expensive per head than Scotland, English Conservatives last night said the disparity between Scotland and England as a whole was unfair.

David Mowat MP said: “It is not right that they end up with an extra £1,600 per person. Many MPs are having to defend deeply unpopular cuts. We do so on the basis that there is no alternative. This argument looks a bit limp when the coalition is able to fritter away billions on vested interests north of the Border.”

Gordon Henderson MP added: “Something has to be done before the justifiable resentment felt by many people about the unfair subsidy English taxpayers are expected to contribute towards superior services north of the Border manifests itself in an anti-Scots backlash.”

But that prompted a scathing response last night. SNP MP Stewart Hosie said: “These attacks are just another attempted Tory cash grab on Scotland. It is just another example of their backwoodsmen seeking to cut Scotland’s spending once again. Scotland more than pays her way in the United Kingdom.”

Labour MP for Glasgow South Tom Harris added: “All this just appeals to the worst instincts of English Tory MPs.

“It is right that we give a public subsidy to areas that need it, whether that’s Scotland, the North-east or London. The Barnett Formula existed for the full 18 years of the Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher and John Major and never once did they complain.”

The SNP government last night said claims of a subsidy were “ill-informed”, pointing to its own figures last month which showed Scotland contributed 9.4 per cent of UK revenue – including oil revenues – while receiving 9.3 per cent of spending.

A spokesman said: “Scotland contributes relatively more to the UK exchequer than our share of population and is in a stronger fiscal position than the UK as a whole.”