Ministers have revealed the Scottish Government will receive more
than £3.6 billion over five years from 2019/20 – an increase of
£600 million on the previous period.
Alongside this, the Scottish Government is also being given
greater control over how its rail is funded. So it can choose how
best to use this money to improve the reliability of services for
passengers, fund upgrades and invest in faster and more
comfortable trains.
This new funding settlement is on top of the significant
additional Barnett funding the Scottish Government now receives
to spend on its priorities, including transport. The Scottish
Government has been allocated £1.2 billion since Autumn Statement
2016 and will also get Barnett Formula funding following the UK’s
investment in HS2. The Scottish Government will decide how much
of this Barnett funding should be spent on the Scottish railway
network.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury said:
This multi-billion pound UK government funding is a prime
example of how Scotland benefits from the UK’s broad shoulders.
Our record investment for railways across the UK means a
settlement for Scotland that could improve the entire network.
We are backing Scotland for its future success and it’s now up
to the Scottish Government to ensure maximum benefit for the
public.
As a result of UK government decisions in other areas, Scotland
has benefited from an additional £2 billion funding since the
2015 Spending Review.
Through the Scotland Act, the Scottish Parliament now has the
ability to set devolved taxes in Scotland, making it one of the
most powerful devolved Parliaments in the world.
Scotland also benefits from the strength of the UK economy, which
was the second fastest growing major advanced economy last year.
Other recent UK government commitments for Scotland:
- the UK government has invested almost £1 billion in Scottish
City Deals and we’re planning further deals for Stirling, the
Borderlands and the Tay Cities
- Scotland will benefit from the UK government’s investment in
areas that are key to boosting productivity, such as research and
development, science and innovation
- the National Productivity Investment Fund will invest an
extra £23 billion across the UK between 2016/17 and 2021/22
