Scotland 'will get extra £176m'

Mar 20 2013

An extra £176 million will be available to the Scottish Government because of decisions made in the Chancellor's Budget, according to the UK Government.

The additional spending power is the result of a £279 million increase in capital spending and a £103 million reduction in the day-to-day resource budget.

Michael Moore, the Scottish Secretary in the UK Government, said: "Today's Budget shows the coalition Government is building a stronger economy and fairer society to equip Scotland and the UK to succeed in the global race.

"We face many economic challenges but this Government has shown we can deliver, with one million private sector jobs and increasing personal tax allowances to £10,000, taking 224,000 people in Scotland out of tax altogether.

"We are supporting families, individuals, both small and large businesses, and investing in the future with this Budget. It is good news for Scotland and will help us build on the positive changes we are making to rebalance our economy."

The extra money, announced by Chancellor George Osborne, is calculated through the Barnett formula which allocates money to the devolved administration. It will be split, with a £55 million increase in 2013-14 and a £121 million increase in 2014-15.

About 2.2 million taxpayers in Scotland stand to benefit from an increase in the personal allowance, bringing it to £10,000, in line with a Liberal Democrat pledge.

Mr Osborne announced support for the oil and gas industry through "decommissioning relief deeds" which the Government says will give certainty that tax reliefs will be available to support costs of £35 billion.

A carbon capture and storage project at Peterhead in Aberdeenshire was named preferred bidder in a £1 billion UK-wide programme.

The Chancellor cancelled a 3p fuel duty increase planned for September, noting lobbying from rural areas such as Argyll. Scrapping the increase will save a typical motorist £25 and haulier £750 a year, the Government calculated. Corporation tax will be cut to 20% by 2015, which the SNP has argued should be the level in Scotland.