Scotland benefits from over £2,500 higher spending per head than the UK average
This chart simply shows the difference in total public spending per head between Scotland and the UK average. It shows that the gap in public spending per head has grown considerably over the last 25 years and now exceeds £2,500 pa. for every man, woman and child in Scotland.
Spending for Scotland includes reserved spending (i.e spending controlled by Westminster), but any observed difference in spending per head cannot be explained by "non-identifiable" reserved costs which are allocated on a per head basis (i.e. this has nothing to do with defence, UK debt interest, international affairs, Treasury, HMRC, Cabinet Office etc. allocations).
The Barnett Formula (which determines the size of Scotland’s block grant and hence capacity for devolved spending) has been largely responsible for increasing the gap between Scottish and UK average public spending per head. This phenomenon occurs when, as in recent years, growth in UK public spending is relatively low and Scotland’s population grows more slowly than the UK average.
We explore the breakdown of this spending per head difference in a later chart.