This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Publication of GERS report
20/01/2003
The publication today of Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland 2000-01 (GERS) is the ninth in the series of official publications examining budgetary issues in Scotland.
It presents data for the latest year for which information on Government expenditure and revenue is available for Scotland.
The report:
- describes the allocation of "identifiable" expenditure across spending programmes in 2000-01, distinguishing between the expenditure in that year by the Scottish Executive and related departments (broadly equivalent to the present scope of the Scottish Executive budget) and the spending of other Government Departments
- estimates the proportion of "non-identifiable" expenditure incurred on behalf of the United Kingdom as a whole (such as defence) that is attributable to Scotland
- allocates Scotland's share of "other" expenditure (including debt interest)
- estimates total receipts for Scotland, the five largest components of which are income tax, value added tax, corporation tax, and social security contributions, and local authority revenues
The report uses these estimates of aggregate expenditure for Scotland and aggregate receipts for Scotland, to derive an estimate of Net Borrowing (NB) attributable to Scotland.
The technical appendices to the report provide estimates of the Scottish fiscal position for the five years up to 2000-01 and set out a number of methodological issues.
The principal findings of the report on GER in Scotland 2000-01 are:
- Aggregate expenditure for Scotland was £36.3 billion in 2000-01, equivalent to 9.9 per cent of the UK total. This is over one percentage point above the Scottish population share (8.6 per cent) in 2000
- Aggregate receipts (excluding North Sea revenues) for Scotland were £30.9 billion in 2000-01, equivalent to 8.2 per cent of UK receipts. This is below Scotland's 2000 population share and equal to its share of UK GDP
- Net Borrowing attributable to Scotland - the extent to which aggregate expenditure exceeds aggregate receipts - was £5.4 billion (excluding North Sea revenues) in 2000-01. This is equivalent to 7.1 per cent of Scottish GDP (excluding North Sea revenues); in the same year, the corresponding UK ratio was around minus 1.2 per cent (i.e. surplus)
- The NB of £5.4 billion in 2000-01 compares with a figure of £4.2 billion in 1999-00. The latter was around 5.7 per cent of Scottish GDP (excluding oil)
- Calculations are shown on the effect of allocating different levels of North Sea revenues to Scottish receipts. North Sea revenues accruing to the UK exchequer were around £4.3 billion in 2000-01. The report also includes an analysis testing the sensitivity of the NB estimate to variations in key revenues
GER in Scotland 2000-2001 follows previous editions in 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001.