Spending on health has fallen since devolution, report finds
Spending on Scotland’s NHS has dropped dramatically since Holyrood took over the health service budget, according to a new report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies.
Research by the economic think-tank into differences in public spending in Scotland and England found that while health spending per head of population remains higher north of the border, it is now just 3 per cent more, compared to 22 percent at the start of devolution.
The IFS states while health spending is a growing proportion of total public service spending in both countries, the increases in scotland have been “significantly smaller” than those in England.
Overall, there search estimates that real-terms spending on health per person increased by 63 percent in Scotland during the first decade of the Scottish parliament, compared with 80 per cent in England, while in the 2010s it increased by 3 per cent, compared with 10 per cent in England.
Despite this “squeeze” on health spending, the reports authors say, there has been no relative decline in service performance ins cot l and’ snhs, at least over the past decade.
However, the report is more critical on education spending, stating that despite more than £7,000 being spent per pupil aged from three to 19, compared with less than £6,000 in England, Scottish secondary pupils are not performing better than their peers south of the border in international assessments, particularly in maths and science.
Meanwhile, despite“substantiallyhigher" spending on higher education to avoid students paying tuition fees in Scotland, the share of 18-year-olds going to university has grown more slowly than in England.
The IFS also reports “total identifiable spending” on public services and benefits per person in Scotland was 20 per cent higher than in England in 2019/20, while the gap in spending per person on benefits, which is largely based on Uk-wide eligibility rules, is just 6 per cent.
The new research was seized on by the scottish conservatives as proof of the“union dividend ”, but both they and the Scottish Liberal Democrats questioned whether the spending priorities of the scottish government were correct. th es np, however, said the figures were proof the government had maintained health spending.
Ben Zaranko, research economist at the IFS and one of the report’s authors, said: “Perperson spending in Scotland is higher than in England for virtually all public services, but devolution allows the Scottish Government to make different choices from the UK Government over which services to prioritise.
“Over the past two decades, under both Labour and Snpled administrations, the NHS has been prioritised to a lesser extent than in England.
"As a result, Scottish health spending per person is now just 3 per cent higher than in England, versus 22 per cent at the start of the devolution. Instead, Scottish governments have placed relatively more priority on other services.
“Since the SNP has led the government, this includes adult social care, early-years and higher education, and public order and safety.”