Scotland’s government has urged UK Treasury ministers to plough back some of a multi-billion pound departmental underspend into capital projects capable of boosting jobs and growth in the Scottish economy.
Alex Neil, Scottish infrastructure secretary, said the Scottish Government had, at Prime Minister David Cameron’s request, sent him a list of 36 ‘shovel-ready’ Scottish infrastructure projects, but had yet to receive UK capital funding for any of them.
His plea followed the latest public spending figures, released by the Treasury last week, which Neil said indicated a £6.7bn underspend on planned departmental budgets for the year to March in spite of the cuts imposed on most departments. The Institute of Fiscal Studies calculates the underspend at £5.3bn.
‘The Scottish Government has repeatedly called on the UK Government to provide resources for capital investment to support economic recovery. We have always been clear that one of the primary ways to do this is by investing in our infrastructure,’ Neil said
‘The prime minister told the first minister that he accepts the principle of bringing forward capital investment but that there are no suitable “shovel-ready” projects in England which could receive funding to begin in 2012 or 2013. This is not the case in Scotland.’
Scottish ministers believe that the projects on their list are capable of generating 1,400 Scottish jobs for every £100m of capital spending. Some Scottish Government resources were provided for these projects last month under a £105m stimulus package announced by Finance Secretary John Swinney.
The full shopping list runs to more than £300m of investment, and includes £37m for Clyde Gateway developments in Glasgow, a £13m virology centre at Glasgow University and £6m of campus development at Inverness.
Neil said: ‘We have done what we can within our powers to fund ‘shovel-ready’ projects. However there remains more we could do if additional funding is provided.
‘Some of the newly revealed £6.7bn UK underspend would benefit communities all over Scotland and generate significant employment.’
