Mossad
07-17-2009, 16:14
The system which helps decide the level of public funding in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has been condemned as "arbitrary and unfair".
A Lords committee said the Barnett formula should be scrapped as Scotland's needs were not as great as other parts of the UK.
The system was set up in the 1970s as a short-term fix but became the established funding formula for the UK.
The Scottish National Party repeated its call for full fiscal autonomy.
The Treasury said it would examine the report but that there were no current plans to change the system.
The committee of peers argued that the Barnett formula should be replaced by a system which recognises changing population levels and the differing economic needs of the devolved nations.
They said England and Scotland had markedly lower overall needs per head of population than Wales and Northern Ireland.
Source here. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8154374.stm)
A Lords committee said the Barnett formula should be scrapped as Scotland's needs were not as great as other parts of the UK.
The system was set up in the 1970s as a short-term fix but became the established funding formula for the UK.
The Scottish National Party repeated its call for full fiscal autonomy.
The Treasury said it would examine the report but that there were no current plans to change the system.
The committee of peers argued that the Barnett formula should be replaced by a system which recognises changing population levels and the differing economic needs of the devolved nations.
They said England and Scotland had markedly lower overall needs per head of population than Wales and Northern Ireland.
Source here. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8154374.stm)