Basis of real term calculation of Scotland’s resource block grant: FOI release

You asked: 

Scotland’s resource block grant in today’s @GOVUK budget is almost £2 billion lower in real terms for 2019/20 compared to 2010/11.

I would like to request the basis of this calculation with references to the sources used and the measure of inflation used to calculate the difference in real terms. 

I would also like details of any discussion within the Scottish Government as to the accuracy or suitability of the historic comparison made in this tweet.

Response

Thank you for your request on 30 October for information regarding the basis of the real term calculation of Scotland’s resource block grant from 2010/11 to 2019/20.

The budget aggregates are set by HM Treasury through the Spending Review and subsequent UK Budgets.  The Scottish Government’s fiscal (i.e. excluding non cash) resource budget for 2010-11 was £25,624m[1] and following the UK Budget on 29 October the Budget for 2019-20 is £27,661m. Using the GDP deflators published by HM Treasury (which can be found here) in real terms (on a 2017-18 basis) these budgets are calculated as £28,679m for 2010-11 and £26,689m for 2019-20. The difference between the two shows a reduction to the Scottish Government fiscal resource budget (block grant) of £1,990m. Similar calculations have been documented in the Scottish Government’s annual Draft Budget publication in recent years.