 SNP Treasury spokesperson, Stewart Hosie MP, has today
(Monday) published a new parliamentary answer, which show that Scotland
has been attributed a share of almost £550 million of public spending
on courts in England and Wales.
 Stewart Hosie MP Just last month the DTI admitted Scotland was being charged for English tourism and inward investment. Commenting Mr Hosie said: "This
latest revelation totally undermines the credibility of government's
claims about spending per head in different parts of the UK. "The
whole system is flawed. At the moment, if spending in England cannot be
identified on a regional basis, it is counted as UK wide spending, even
though the same spending is devolved. "This is a ridiculous way of doing things and as a result we now know Scots are being allocated Scottish and English spending. "Our
best estimate is that £5 billion of English spending has been wrongly
identified, including over £2 billion for the English prison service.
Today we know for sure that it includes almost £550 million for English
and Welsh courts. "The government needs to get its act together and sort out its phoney figures. ENDS Note - the following parliamentary answer has been received: Stewart Hosie:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs
what the total administration costs for her core Department are; and
whether these are regarded as (a) identifiable and (b) non-identifiable
for the purposes of public expenditure statistical analyses. [39841] Bridget Prentice: The information is as follows. (a)
The total (net) administration budget for the core departments of
Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) as per audited Resource
Accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2005 was £915 million,
ie: £ million
DCA Headquarters and Associated Offices - 352
Court Service (CS) - 547
Public Guardian Office (PGO) - 16 (b)
For the purposes of 'Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2005'
(PESA) published as National Statistics annually by the HM Treasury,
the administration budget of DCA HQ and Associated Offices (£352
million) and PGO (£16 million), totaling £370 million were regarded as
identifiable. While the CS spending on 'collective services' was regarded as non-identifiable, ie: £ million
Identifiable costs - 370
Non-identifiable - 547 The
administration expenditure reflects the costs of running the
Department. Net administration budget includes administrative staff
salaries, accommodation charges, depreciation and associated operating
income. (25 Jan 2006 : Column 2153-54W) |
