Spending gap breakdown
Spending gap detail (1): categories as stacked bars
The chart breaks the spending gap down into its main components. When viewing the spending gap on a £ per head basis, none of the gap can be explained by costs which are allocated on a per head basis (i.e. defence, UK debt interest, international affairs, Treasury, HMRC, Cabinet Office etc. allocations) - what we are observing here are actual differences in levels of spending per head between Scotland and the UK.
Social protection, Education & training and public & common services stand out as being the biggest (but far from only) areas where spending per head is higher in Scotland.