About Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland

Scottish Water

Q: What is the value per person of revenue raised from Scottish Water?

A: Revenue from Scottish Water within GERS is reported entirely under gross operating surplus.  Information on Scottish Water’s surplus in 2018-19 is set out in their Annual Report 2018-19, available at:

https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/en/Help-and-Resources/Document-Hub/Key-Publications/Annual-Reports​

In National Accounts, operating surplus is recorded prior to the deduction of depreciation or capital consumption, as this is included as an expenditure. As shown in the Consolidated Income Statement on page 68 and the Operating Surplus statement on page 78, Scottish Water’s gross surplus was £537.7 million in 2018-19 (calculated as operating surplus plus depreciation charges).  This is equivalent to approximately £100 per person, given Scotland’s population of 5.4 million people. Information on Scotland’s population is available at:

http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/population/population-estimates/mid-year-population-estimates

Scottish Water’s Annual Reports for other years are available from:

http://www.scottishwater.co.uk/about-us/publications/key-publications

Crown estates revenue

Q: What is the value attributed to Scotland per person of revenue raised from the Crown Estates?

A: Information on the Crown Estate’s revenue in 2016-17 is set out in their Annual Report 2015-16, available at:
https://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/media/1097892/integrated-annual-report-2016-17.pdf

As shown on page 1, the Crown Estate’s net revenue profit prior to depreciation was £329 million in 2016-17. In GERS Scotland is apportioned a share of this revenue in line with the Crown Estate in Scotland's share of UK gross surplus, also on page 1.  In 2016-17 this share was 3.9%, or approximately £13 million. This is equivalent to approximately £2 per person, given Scotland’s population of 5.3 million people. 

Crown Estate Annual Reports for other years are available from:
http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/our-business/financial-information/annual-reports-archive/ 

Revenues apportioned by population

Q: What revenues are apportioned to Scotland on a population basis, and what is the value of these revenues?

A: The table below provides a description of the UK revenues of which Scotland is apportioned a population share in Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland (GERS) 2014-15.  The value of this Scottish share is also shown.

Scottish values of revenue lines apportioned to Scotland on a population basis (£m)

Description	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
Onshore revenues
Fishing licences	1.8	1.8	1.7	1.7	1.7
Interest and dividends (net), Central Government	754.5	1320.7	1600.7	1456.1	1272.7
Interest and dividends (net), Local Government	-211.0	-52.8	-77.8	-63.7	-97.3
Interest and dividends (net), Bank of England	-2.6	-729.1	-1019.5	-895.9	-711.4
Emissions trading scheme - revenue from overseas government activity	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
UK Revenue Accounting Adjustment	2.1	2.1	-30.0	-107.6	-98.9
Offshore revenues when apportioned on a population basis
North Sea Corporation Tax	739.5	367.5	295.2	171.4	44.4
Petroleum Revenue Tax	170.0	144.8	92.9	6.4	-46.4
Emissions trading scheme - offshore emissions	1.5	1.3	1.6	2.6	2.3

Note: The UK Revenue Accounting Adjustment reconciles the GERS UK revenue total from the ONS UK Economic Accounts 2016Q1 to the latest UK revenue total from the ONS Public Sector Finances published in July 2016.

Note that UK revenues from the Emissions Trading Scheme are not separated out by ONS.  This is estimated by the Scottish Government, as set out in Box 3.2 of GERS 2012-13:
http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2014/03/7888/5

National Lottery

Q: What is the value of National Lottery revenue and expenditure allocated to Scotland?  How are these calculated?

A:

Revenue

Scotland is apportioned a share of UK revenue from the National Lottery. This is the revenue paid to the National Lottery Distribution Fund by the lottery operator, which is to be spent for good causes. Scotland’s share of this revenue is estimated based on its share of household spending on gambling, taken from the Office for National Statistics publication Family Spending:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/compendium/familyspending/2015

 (Reference Table A35)

Estimated Scottish National Lottery revenue (£m)

	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
National Lottery revenue	153	179	177	181	179

Expenditure

Scotland’s share of National Lottery grants to good causes is estimated by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport, and is available from the GERS 2014-15 expenditure database

The value is shown in the table below:

Estimated Scottish National Lottery expenditure (£m)

	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
National Lottery expenditure	130	162	167	51	186

BBC

Q: What is the value of BBC revenue and expenditure allocated to Scotland? How are these calculated?

A: The tables below set out estimated revenue and expenditure associated with the BBC.

Note that the following figures exclude revenue and expenditure associated with the BBC’s commercial services, associated with e.g. overseas sales of BBC programmes. This part of the BBC is treated separately within the UK Public Sector Finances. As it is viewed as a self-financing body, only its net position is included, with its revenues and expenditure not reported separately.

(a) Revenue

GERS includes TV licences paid by households within the revenue category ‘Other taxes, royalties, and adjustments’. This is a smaller figure than the licence fee income as reported by the BBC in their annual accounts, as the BBC includes income from the Department for Work and Pension (DWP), which pays the TV licences of over 75s. For reference, both figures are shown below.

Estimated BBC licence fee income from Scottish households (£m)

	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
From households (source: GERS)	274	278	275	278	279
From DWP (source: DWP)	48	49	49	49	49
Total estimated BBC revenue from Scottish households	322	327	325	327	328

As TV licences are paid by households rather than individuals, Scotland’s share of TV licences from under 75s is estimated based on its share of UK households, available from the Department for Communities and Local Government:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-household-projections (Live Table 401)

Scotland’s share of TV licences from over 75s is taken from DWP benefit expenditure tables:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2015

(b) Expenditure

Scotland’s share of BBC expenditure within GERS is  available from the GERS 2014-15 expenditure database and is shown in the table below. This is apportioned to Scotland on a population basis as it aims to represent the spending by the BBC for the benefit of residents of Scotland. This does not represent total BBC spending in Scotland.

Estimated BBC expenditure for Scotland (£m)

	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
BBC expenditure for Scotland	338	299	300	305	324

Transport for London

Q: How much of the fare revenue returned to HM Treasury by Transport for London each year is included in Scottish revenue?

A: No revenue raised by Transport for London is included within the Scottish revenue figures in GERS.

HMRC tax categories

Whisky export duty

Q: What is the value of revenue collected from Whisky Export Duty allocated to Scotland?

A: Exports, including exports of whisky, do not attract UK duty. Therefore, no 'whisky export duty' revenue is allocated to Scotland in GERS.

Office of Budget Responsbility (OBR) receipts categories

Q: What is the GERS estimate of Scottish revenue for OBR receipt categories?

Non-identifiable spending

Non-identifiable expenditure is a term used in HM Treasury's Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) publication to refer to spending that cannot be allocated as benefitting a particular region. In GERS, the term is used more widely to include spending which is identified as benefiting people that do not live in the UK. An example of this spending would be state pensions paid to UK citizens who now live abroad.

The methodology for apportioning non-identifiable expenditure to Scotland in GERS is set out in the GERS expenditure methodology paper, available at:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/GERS/Methodology

Since non-identifiable spending is a CRA measure, and the CRA for the latest year is not available at the time of publication, GERS does not have a breakdown of spending into identifiable and non-identifiable for the latest year. A breakdown of identifiable and non-identifiable spending for Scotland for earlier years is available in the Supplementary Expenditure Database published alongside GERS.