Devolution disputes

It is well known that Scottish students do not pay tuition fees, and students in England do. But what if it was more widely known that English taxpayers were subsidising this luxury? A controversial article in the Sunday Times focuses on this debate.

According to the Sunday Times

“Just north of the border in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, lives Richard Barker, who moved from England some years ago. He says his family have saved thousands of pounds on education. His two sons, Liam, 21, and Sam, 20, went to college in Scotland - with all the costs met by the state. They left with no debts. By contrast, their older brother Allan, 22, studied in Lanca-shire and left university with a £4,000 overdraft.

In addition, Barker’s girlfriend Helen has lung cancer and though it is in remission she might in future need an expensive drug called Tarceva. “She has been told it will be available if she needs it,” said Barker. “But the treatment is not available on the NHS in England. I would never consider going back to England. We’ve a lot to be thankful for in Scotland.”

He’s right. What Scotland has to be thankful for is the huge subsidy it receives from English taxpayers. Scotland’s largesse on health, education and much else is possible because the English are the losers when the British government dishes out funds for public spending.

The latest figures on public spending per head show that in 2006-7 it was reckoned at £8,623 in Scotland; £8,139 in Wales; and just £7,121 in England. (The figures may seem modest, but they are for “identifiable spending” that differs between regions and do not include items such as defence that are deemed to be national.)

The Scots, with £1,500 more to spend per person, are lavishing services on their 5m population. Free care (up to £210 a week) for the elderly, free eye tests, dental checks and, in future, free prescriptions. Yet in England, it was announced last week that the prescription charge will rise to £7.10.

In Wales, which has £1,000 per person more to spend than England, the authorities last week announced plans for free hospital car parking. It infuriated taxpayers in England.

“It seems that in the UK, the poor relation is England,” said John Cherrett, a campaigner for pensioners in Dorset, where some hospitals charge £7 a day for parking. “Whatever way we look at it, public transport, drugs, pensions, whatever, England is a poor relation. We are the wealth-maker of the four parts of the UK and we lose out all along.”

In total the TaxPayers’ Alliance pressure group calculates that the “cost of being English” could amount to more than £7,000 a year – from £3,000 for university tuition fees to thousands more for care of the elderly, £25 for an eye test and £15 for each dental check-up.”

Points for discussion

What is the method used to calculate public spending throughout the UK regions?
Should the Scots only pay for what they raise in taxes in Scotland?
Does this strengthen the case for an English Parliament? Is there an alternative solution to the West Lothian Question?