The Scottish Government has over £1.30-per-person to spend on public services for every £1 of comparable spending in England, according to a new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The study explains that almost all of this gap – 28.9p out of the overall 30.6p – is due to ‘relatively high levels of funding from the UK Government via the Barnett formula’.
Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said:
“This is further confirmation that Scotland is stronger in the UK.
“All parts of the UK pool resources and share according to need, meaning we can spend more on our NHS, schools and other public services.
“Rather than obsess about the timing of another referendum, it’s time for some honesty from Nicola Sturgeon about how a separate Scotland would address the immediate gap between spending and revenue – how much would she raise taxes by and how much would she cut from schools and hospitals?
“But it would be preferable if she would drop her campaign to divide Scotland and instead focus on bringing people together as we recover from Covid.”