Scottish independence: Public bodies list published

THE UK government has published a list of 200 public bodies it believes may have to be replicated in an independent Scotland.

The list was produced by the Scotland Office and the UK Government minister David Mundell said it served as a reminder of the changes that would have to be made in order to achieve independence.

The public bodies include UK government functions which deal with Britain as a whole such as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence and the security services.

Also on the list are UK bodies such as the BBC and the Met Office, as well as bodies such as the DVLA and the Coastguard who provide important services to people across the UK.

More obscure bodies named by the Scotland Office include services such as the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and the British Hallmarking Council.

The UK Government has not worked out how much it would cost to reproduce these bodies in an independent Scotland. But to give an idea of the expense involved, the Scotland Office pointed to a leaked Cabinet paper by the SNP finance secretary John Swinney which admitted that setting up a new Scottish tax system would cost £600 million.

The Scottish Government countered by arguing that some of bodies on the list such as Public Health England, the British Library and Visit Britain would not have to be replicated in Scotland as their equivalents already existed.

The SNP administration also said that the length of the list illustrated how inefficient the public sector was in Britain.

• See the list here