Funds allocated from UK Government to combat Covid-19: FOI release

Information requested

Information regarding funding received by the Scottish Government from the UK Government as part of the response to the Covid pandemic. You also asked for further information regarding the use of Covid funding for the £500 thank you payment for healthcare workers.

Response

In total, to date, the Scottish Government has received confirmation of £13.3 billion in Barnett consequentials from the UK Government in respect of the Covid 19 response; £9.7 billion in 2020-21 and a further £3.6 billion in 2021-22.

£1.1 billion of the consequentials received in 2020-21 were allocated very late in the financial year and were therefore carried forward to 2021-22, so the profile allocated by the Scottish Government is slightly different at £8.6 billion for 2020-21 and £4.7 billion for 2021-22.

The Scottish Government has deployed this £13.3 billion plus funds from central reserves and other sources of funding to support the Covid response in Scotland. In total this has resulted in over £13.6 billion in additional funding being deployed. The following table provides details of the amounts received and deployed.

UK Government Covid Allocations to SG (£m)	Resource	Capital and FTs	Total
2020-21 Allocated by UK Gov	8,600		8,600
2020-21 Allocated by UK Gov at Supps	874	278	1,152
2021-22 Allocated by UK Gov - SR20	1,328		1,328
2021-22 Allocated by UK Gov - Budget	1,206		1,206
2021-22 Allocated by UK Gov - Main Estimate	1,000		1,000
Total	13,008	278	13,286

Deployment of funds to support Covid response By Scottish Government (£m)	Resource	Capital and FTs	Total
2020-21 Budget Revision	8,677	11	8,688
2021-22 Scottish Budget Bill as Amended	3,593	278	3,871
2021-22 ABR	1,050		1,050
Total	13,320	289	13,609

The Scottish Government also reallocated some funding to support the Covid response. When this is included the total, funding directed towards the Covid-19 response rises to over £14 billion.

The Scottish Government set out its response to the pandemic for 2020-21 at three points during the year as details emerged from the UK government about the Covid-19 funding being allocated to Scotland.

Firstly, the Summer Budget Revision was exceptionally introduced last year, on 27 May, to provide the Scottish Parliament with the opportunity to scrutinise the spending decisions made by Scottish Ministers to that point in time. Full details of the allocations are included in the supporting document which can be viewed at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/2020-21-summer-budget-revision/.

It included the allocation of just over £4 billion in funding for the Covid response:-

• This total included a comprehensive £2.3 billion package of support for business, a £620 million boost for health services and £350 million funds for communities
• The spending was largely funded by a rise in the block grant of more than £3.5 billion resulting from extra UK Government Covid-19 spending, and £112 million of non-Covid related funding received following the UK Budget of March 2020.
• A further £255 million was reprioritised from within existing departmental budgets, including where Covid-19 has had an unavoidable impact on planned spending.

The Autumn Budget Revision was published on 24 September and is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/2020-21-autumn-budget-revision/

This revision allocated a further £2.5 billion to Covid related measures:-

• An additional £1.8 billion in funding was allocated to Health and Social Care. This is on top of the £620 million additional Health funding which was allocated at Summer Budget Revision, meaning over £2.4 billion of financial support has been provided to the NHS to support its ongoing Covid-19 support.
• £222 million of additional resource funding was allocated to support our bus, rail and local transport operators.
• £190 million in additional support was provided for business and the arts.
• £119 million was added to the Education and Skills budget as part of the Education Recovery package and also ensured free school meals were continued over the course of the Summer Holidays.
• The budget revision also allocated capital expenditure for the economic recovery stimulus package announced by the Cabinet Secretary of Finance in June.
• This was funded through a further £2.4 billion of Barnett consequentials from the UK Government, £142 million of reprioritisation of existing expenditure, and £30m of Scotland Reserve drawdowns.

Finally, the remainder of the £8.6 billion received for 2020-21 was allocated in the Spring Budget Revision (SBR), published on 25 February and available: https://www.gov.scot/publications/2020-21-spring-budget-revision/

This revision allocated a further £3.2 billion in Covid-19 and other funding changes:-

• £780 million was allocated to business support bringing total business support to over £3 billion in the financial year.
• A further £494m was allocated to Health and Sport.
• £270m of transport support was provided in this budget revision meaning £850m was provided in 2020-21. to support our rail and bus networks through the pandemic.
• Support for Education and skills reached £450m following the SBR.
• The SBR was funded through £2.6 billion of Barnett consequentials and £745 million of reprioritisation of existing expenditure.

All three of these budget revisions were approved by the Scottish Parliament following a full scrutiny process by the Finance and Constitution Committee. Final expenditure figures will be published in the Scottish Government's consolidated accounts later this year.

A further £1.1 billion of Covid-19 funding was allocated to the Scottish Government in February 2021, but it was too late to be effectively deployed in the 2020-21 financial year. This was therefore carried forward to 2021-22, and was allocated as part of the Stage 2 and 3 amendments to the Budget Act for 2021-22 alongside further funding for 2021-22 allocated by the UK Government at the Budget in March . This was approved by the Parliament on 9 March and details can be viewed at: Scottish budget 2021 to 2022: amendments after introduction of the Budget (Scotland) (No.5) Bill - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Prior to these amendments, the Scottish Government published details of its proposed spending plans, including the allocation of any Covid allocations, for 2021-22 in the Scottish Budget 2021-22 published on 29 January and available at: Scottish Budget 2021 to 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Autumn Budget Revision was published on 27 September and is available at Budget (Scotland) Act: Autumn Budget Revision 2021-2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

This revision allocated a further £1.1 billion in Covid-19 funding including :-

• an additional £834 million to Health and Social Care;
• £104 million to support our bus, rail and local transport operators; and
• £71 million is provided for business and the arts.

Additional Barnett consequentials of £605 million were allocated to the Scottish Government for 2021-22 in the UK Government’s spending review in October 2021, and a further £440 million in Covid-19 funding was allocated to the Scottish Government in December 2021.

Full details of the allocation of funding since the Autumn Budget Revision - including that of funding relating to the COVID-19 measures as announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy on 16 December, and any reallocation of funding - will be available in the Spring Budget Revision. This is expected to be published in early February 2022 and will be available on the Scottish Government website.

Specifically on your questions around the £500 payments, as set out at the time of the announcement, £180 million was invested to support the £500 “thank you” payments paid to Health and Social Care staff.

The eligibility criteria are set out at the following link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronaviruscovid-19-gbp500-payment-for-health-and-social-care-staff---questions-and-answers/. Further detail on specific job roles would require to be requested from individual NHS Boards and
Integration Authorities.

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