How Much Money Does Scotland Get From The Barnett Formula

Public spending

The UK's public spending works fairly for Scotland and allows the whole country to pool and share its resources.

How is public spending and revenue distributed to Scotland?
How are funding decisions split between the UK and Scottish governments?
What powers do the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament have over public spending and tax?

How is public spending and revenue distributed to Scotland?

During 2020-21 tax revenue generated in Scotland amounted to about £63 billion, including North Sea oil revenue, and it benefitted from about £99 billion in public spending, a difference of £36 billion.

In 2020-21 the UK faced the coronavirus pandemic together, spending unprecedented amounts to support lives and livelihoods across the country. This resulted in a £17.2 billion (21%) increase in public spending for Scotland compared to the previous year.

This was possible because the UK pools and shares resources across the entire country. This system of sharing resources means Scotland is well-placed to tackle the problems like the pandemic and climate change, but also gives the Scottish Parliament the freedom to make many financial decisions for itself.

More information on Scotland's tax revenue - external link

How are funding decisions split between the UK and Scottish governments?

Scotland has two governments that are both responsible for different things. For example, foreign policy and international relations are reserved to the UK Government, but health and social services are devolved to the Scottish Government.

When the UK Government increases funding for an area which is devolved, the Scottish Government receives extra funding too. For example, if the NHS in England gets a funding boost, the Scottish Government will also receive extra cash.

In 2020 the UK Government guaranteed £8.6 billion of additional funding to help the Scottish Government to respond to coronavirus. In February 2021 the UK Government announced a further £1.1 billion was being made available for the Scottish Government to spend in the financial year 2020-2021 or carry forward to the financial year 2021-2022. As a result the Scottish Government spent an extra £9 billion in 2020-21 to respond to the pandemic. The UK Government also spent a further £8.2 billion directly on support like furlough, self-employment grants and welfare in Scotland.

The Spending Review 2020 confirmed that UK Government Barnett-based funding to the Scottish Government in 2021-22 would be over £38 billion. This equates to around £129 per person for every £100 per person the UK Government spends in England on matters devolved in Scotland. This reflects the higher costs of delivering public services in Scotland.

Read more about devolution - external link

What powers do the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament have over public spending and tax?

The Scottish Parliament retains power over many financial decisions, including setting the rate of income tax, and how much is spent on important public services like health and education.

When the UK Government increases funding in a devolved area, the decision on how the additional funding is spent in Scotland is made by the Scottish Government.

Find out what taxes are devolved - external link

More Information

The Scottish Parliament Information Centre contains more information about Scotland's economy and finance.

The Scottish Government publishes an annual report on Scotland's finances called 'Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland'.

Find out about public sector revenue and expenditure across the UK.