15 December 2006
Scotland spends £11.2bn more than it gathers from taxes, according to the annual Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland report, published this week by the Scottish Executive.
The extent of the deficit sparked an immediate row, with the Scottish National Party claiming that the figures were out of date.
The SNP – pressing the government coalition hard in the polls and hoping to play the independence card in next May's elections – argued that its own analysis showed that when revenue from North Sea oil is taken into account, Scotland had a surplus of £2.8bn.
It claimed that Labour's arguments were based on two-year-old data.
Finance Minister Tom McCabe said the SNP had been unable to make their own sums add up. 'There are black holes throughout their plans for Scotland's economy,' he said.
The Executive's figures revealed that public spending on both devolved and reserved matters in Scotland reached £47.6bn in 2004/05, while revenue raised in Scotland totalled £36.4bn.
North Sea oil and gas revenues are not included but the Executive said that if they were all attributed to Scotland in 2004/05, the deficit would be reduced to £6bn.
Public spending was £7,597 per head in Scotland in 2004/05. The UK average was £6,563.
However, Scotland's margin of 15.8% above the UK average compares with 19.1% in 2003/04 when its per capita spending was £7,325.
The UK average in 2003/04 was £6,149.
PFdec2006
