Public finance
The SNP must rethink its economic model for an independent Scotland
Author / Creator: Laurie Macfarlane
Media type: Assessment report
Date published:
A critique of the Growth Commission's report. "Far from being an asset to the independence cause, the Growth Commission is its biggest liability. It’s time, as we say, ‘tae think again’."
Brexit has reinvigorated Scottish nationalism
Author / Creator: The Economist
Media type: News Media
Date published:
Scottish independence is a constitutional project, not an economic one. Fixing who governs you takes precedence over an easy life for supermarkets or civil servants. Brexit has shown that a committed government, with the mandate of a referendum and an appetite for dislocation, can go a long way.
Ambiguous no more: Time to de-mystify the Barnett Formula
Author / Creator: J. R. Cuthbert
Media type: Academic Paper
Date published: 2020
The overall effect of the new Barnett funding system is to place Scotland in a vulnerable position, where it is at much greater risk of falling into a cycle of economic decline relative to the rest of the UK.
The Barnett Formula
Author / Creator: Matthew Keep
Media type: Briefing paper
Date published:
The Barnett formula calculates the annual change in the block grant. The formula doesn’t determine the total size of the block grant just the yearly change. For devolved services, the Barnett formula aims to give each country the same pounds-per-person change in funding.
The SNP must rethink its economic model for an independent Scotland
Author / Creator: Laurie Macfarlane
Media type: Assessment report
Date published:
Scotland can become a successful independent nation. But that plan needs to come from the 2020s. And it needs to come from a broad cross section of civil society, not just business groups. Far from being an asset to the independence cause, the Growth Commission is its biggest liability. It’s time, as we say, ‘tae think again’.
Scotland spends 20% more per head on public services than England
Author / Creator: Claire Milne
Media type: Fact check
Date published:
It’s correct that spending on public services in Scotland is 20% higher per head than in England. But this money comes from the block grant from the UK Treasury, rather than from England specifically. Also the only areas of England that are not in deficit according to this are London and the South east of England.
NHS Scotland: how much is being spent?
Author / Creator: Claire Milne
Media type: Fact check
Date published:
The planned increase in day-to-day spending on health in Scotland between 2006/07 and 2018/19 has gone up by £4 billion to £13 billion. It doesn’t account for inflation though, once that is added the increase is £2 billion.
Scotland’s new choice; Independence after Brexit
Author / Creator: Eve Hepburn
Media type: Book
Date published: 2021
Leading experts examine the key issues, opportunities and challenges surrounding the prospect of independence since UK’s decision to leave the European Union.
The truth about the annual GERS figures.
Author / Creator: The National
Media type: News Media
Date published:
There is no set of official accounts that tells us how an independent Scotland’s economy would fare, nor what its finances would look like.
Claim Scots will be £2,000 worse off after independence is Unsupported
Author / Creator: The Ferret
Media type: Fact check
Date published:
The "Union Dividend" of £1941 per person [in 2019] only refers to the difference in current spending per head. It does not tell us what Scotland’s financial position would be after independence.
Policies for an independent Scotland? Putting the Independence White Paper in its fiscal context
Author / Creator: David Phillips
Media type: Assessment report
Date published: 2014
A conservative anslysis of prospects for taxation in an independent Scotland.
Transparency in Public Finance – the role of good data
Author / Creator: Common Weal
Date published:
An Open Government approach to Public Finance data can improve its usability and transparency for citizens.
Common Weal Inverness and InverYes – Consideration of the Sustainable Growth Commission Report
Author / Creator: Common Weal
Media type: consultation response
Date published:
The Sustainable Growth Commission appears to be too heavily tied to a free market (neo-liberal) approach to economics.