The ten comparator countries in building a New Scotland: FOI release

Information requested

On the 14th June 2022 the Scottish Government published the first in a series of papers called ‘Building a New Scotland’. The paper ‘Independence in the Modern World. Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why not Scotland?’ is described as setting out ‘a detailed analysis of the UKs performance across a range of economic and social indicators relative to that of ten European countries’.

The ‘Forward’, from the First Minister, emphasised that; ‘the Scottish Government is determined that the choice people make on independence will be an informed one’. And so, please provide information for each of the ten ‘comparator countries’ to the questions as listed below.

1. The VAT Rate in the UK is 20%. Please provide information on the VAT Rate in each of the ten ‘comparator countries’.

2. The VAT Rate on electricity in the UK is 5%. Please provide information on the VAT Rate on electricity in each of the ten ‘comparator countries’. Please include the figures from 2020.

3. Please provide information on how much in tax is paid (as a percentage) in a typical electricity bill in Denmark. Please include VAT/Charges/PSOs.

4. Please provide information on the levels of income tax in each of the comparator countries.

5. In 2021, price levels for consumer goods and services indicated that Denmark along with Ireland had the highest price level among EU Member States 40% above the EU average. And the other ‘comparator’ countries are all above the EU=100 level. In an extract from ‘Eurostat Statistics Explained’ it is stated that; ‘An understanding of the differences in price levels is important in the comparison of economic data, such as gross domestic product (GDP) because higher relative prices could make an economy look healthier than it really is’. Please provide information on whether including comparative data on the ‘Price level’ index/indicators such as the ‘price levels for consumer goods’ was considered for inclusion in the Scottish government’s ‘Independence in the Modern world’ paper. Please also indicate the reasons why such data was not included.

6. Please provide information on the reasons why there is a limited amount of information relating to the framework of tax arrangements in each of the ten ‘comparator countries’ in the Scottish government’s paper ‘Independence in the Modern World. Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why not Scotland?

7. 90% of prescriptions are provided ‘free of charge’ in England and 100% in Scotland/Wales/NI. Please provide information on the arrangements for prescriptions in each of the comparator countries and whether they are provided ‘free of charge’ or not.

8. There is 'no charge' for visiting a GP in the UK. Please indicate which of the 10 comparator countries governments charge for their citizens to visit their GP’s.

9. Please provide information on whether mandatory ‘private’ health insurance is required in any of the comparator countries.

10. Please provide information on whether mandatory ‘public’ health insurance is required in any of the comparator countries.

11. The population of the ten comparator countries ranges from Iceland’s 366,500 to the Netherlands 17.4m. Please indicate why similarly sized countries in Europe such as Greece, Portugal, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belarus, Serbia and Bulgaria were not chosen as comparator countries.

12. The population of the UK is around 67 million. Please indicate why no information was provided to indicate how the UK performs when set against countries in Europe of similar size, such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

13. Please provide information on whether civil servants in the Scottish Government follow the ‘UK Civil Service code’ including the ‘Political Impartiality’ section.

14. A team of civil servants in the Scottish Government is involved with preparing the ‘Building a New Scotland’ prospectus. Under Parliamentary rules and regulations please provide information on whether the opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament are entitled to additional funding/resources in order for them to be able to prepare a considered and fully researched response, as matters regarding the ‘constitution’ fall out with the framework of devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament.

15. Please provide information on the location of the photograph on the front cover of the ‘Building a new Scotland’ paper titled; ‘Independence in the Modern World. Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why not Scotland?

Response

Questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10

You asked a number of questions about the current policies in place across the 10 comparator countries used in ‘Independence in the Modern World. Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why not Scotland?’.

As a Scottish Government wide trawl for this information would breach the upper cost limit of dealing with your request, we have targeted our search to the key business areas involved in producing the first prospectus paper.

As this information does not relate to policies in place in Scotland, the Scottish Government has no business need to retain this information on an ongoing basis. While we do not hold the information you are looking for, you will be able to access much of it online from other sources.

This is a formal notice under Section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.

Question 5

Price indicators for consumer goods were not considered for inclusion in this document as the range of indicators published was considered appropriate. However, Charts 1 and 2 in the paper provide a comparison of GDP per capita measured in U.S. dollars and expressed in terms of constant purchasing power parities (PPPs) which reflects differences in the level of prices between countries and changes in relative prices over time. The same is true for charts 8 and 9 on productivity.

Question 6
While the paper provides some information on taxation levels in comparison countries and notes that the structure of taxation across countries also varies significantly, tax arrangements in the comparator countries were not the primary focus of this document.

The purpose and scope of the paper was to evidence that independent countries of a similar size to Scotland are able to make a variety of different choices which can produce better economic and social outcomes.

Questions 11 and 12
The comparator countries chosen are all relatively small European nations so provide relevant examples for an independent Scotland to learn from and possibly emulate.

The list excludes countries in Southern Europe, post-communist countries, micro-states and countries that are too large in terms of geographical or population size, such as France or Germany, to provide useful development models for Scotland.

This paper looks specifically at national economic and social models that are both relevant to Scotland’s circumstances – where Scotland can learn from their policy choices – and consistent with the current Scottish Government’s aims and objectives to achieve greater equality alongside productivity growth.

Question 13
The Civil Service Code sets out the core values of the Civil Service and the standard of behaviour expected of civil servants. This applies to all civil servants working for the Scottish Government. A copy of the Civil Service Code which applies to civil servants working for the Scottish Government can be found at: Civil Service Code - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question 14
Financial assistance for opposition parties (also known as Short Money) is the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government is not responsible for these arrangements or their application. You can find out how to request this information on the Scottish Parliament website: Requesting information | Scottish Parliament Website.

This is a formal notice under Section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.

Question 15
The front cover of the document on the Scottish Government website shows a wind farm near Pease Bay in the Scottish Borders.

On initial publication, our contracted publishing print and design agency used a reputable stock image website to source a picture a Scottish wind farm for the paper. While the image used was tagged on the stock image website as being in Scotland, we now understand that image may have been mislabelled and, as a result, we updated our publication online.

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