tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603438996450817644.post3445263113724902951..comments2024-01-12T01:56:21.933-08:00Comments on chokka blog: Barnett Formula: Keeping it SimpleKevin Haguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14587343060415859159noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603438996450817644.post-29130575359492628442017-08-10T04:25:55.950-07:002017-08-10T04:25:55.950-07:00If the Barnett formula is reformed, we also need a...If the Barnett formula is reformed, we also need a wider review of tax and spending policy in the UK.<br /><br />In my opinion the case for 'pooling & sharing' as it stands is failing and those on low incomes or at the very bottom have been suffering for decades, because there is an ever decreasing tax revenue available lost through lower tax rates and a failure to address the billions lost through tax avoidance in the UK's many overseas territories and Crown dependancies. <br /><br />The gap between rich and poor has grown into a chasm and drug-related deaths are at their highest level.<br /><br />The UK hasn't made a budget surplus since 2003 and has well over a trillion pounds in debt yet all this excess spending seems to be making the problem worse not better.<br /><br />A damning report recently revealved the impact UK Government policy in the 1980s is still having to this day on poverty and mortality levels in Scotland<br />http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14493634.Revealed___Glasgow_effect__mortality_rate_blamed_on_Westminster_social_engineering/ <br /><br />New research by Heriot Watt Uni estimates homelessness in the UK is going to double in the decades ahead https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/10/uk-homeless-expected-double-2041-charity-crisis-warns<br /><br />The UK has squandered the oil boom in the 1970s and 1980s giving tax cuts to the rich, Scotland's health inequalities are failing to improve despite Barnett while Wales and Northern Ireland have yet to see real economic growth and regeneration to rival their neighbours on both side of the Irish sea, nearly 20 years on from devolution.<br /><br />There remains a large North-South divide in living standards in England and Brexit will likely make all of these economic problems much worse, not better.Drewnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603438996450817644.post-18882563790719533612017-08-08T05:18:49.419-07:002017-08-08T05:18:49.419-07:00'population density is one reason why compared...'population density is one reason why compared to rUK it costs more per capita to deliver comparable services.'<br /><br />SOME services will cost more to deliver comparable services to rural locations i.e emergency service call outs like police, fire, mountain rescue/coastguard and hospital treatment services to a more remote location.<br /><br />But in rural locations, some comparable services will cost less e.g crime is lower, unemployment is often lower (compare Inverness's rate of 2% to Glasgow's 9%) and there are lower numbers of alcoholics, homeless people and drug addiction in rural locations.<br /><br />Health and life expectancy is generally higher in rural locations due to less stress, more active outdoor lifestyles, less obesity, less fast food outlets etc.<br /><br />So the cost of social work services, unemployment benefit, courts, prisons, police time and healthcare problems like long term sickness & illness, heart disease, cancer treatment may be less.<br /><br />For example: Highlands & Islands Council area has a population density of 8 people per km2 but a funding deficit of £17 million.<br /><br />Glasgow City Council area has a population density of 3,298 people per km2 but a funding deficit of £53 million.<br /><br />My general point is many people assume we need Barnett funding because of population density (including Nicola Sturgeon it would seem). I don't believe that to be the case. It is as you say about making appropriate tax and spending choices based on need.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Drewnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603438996450817644.post-12972168784466584412017-08-08T01:26:45.620-07:002017-08-08T01:26:45.620-07:00Drew - population density is one reason why compar...Drew - population density is one reason why compared to rUK it costs more per capita to deliver comparable services. The argument about whether we could afford that on our own doesn't rely on assumptions about population density, it's based on the simple fact that we know how much our economy generates in tax and what it costs to deliver public services so, to be independent and fiscally sustainable, something would have to give. is all.Kevin Haguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14587343060415859159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603438996450817644.post-31658356993082062092017-08-08T01:04:35.187-07:002017-08-08T01:04:35.187-07:00I would like to challenge the myth that our geogra...I would like to challenge the myth that our geography prevents us from being able to adequately fund our public services. <br /><br />If Scotland was an independent country we would be ranked 144 out of 233 countries and territories in terms of population density, which means we have about a middle ranked population density.<br /><br />In fact the world's population density is 50 people per km2, so our 65 people per km2 is actually above average.<br /><br />Population density has no direct link to economic development. Scotland's population density is higher than all of the Scandanavian countries put together, as well as half a dozen G20 economies including Canada and Australia.<br /><br />By getting the powers of taxation over alcohol & tobacco, we can effectively & legally take on the alcohol companies & tobacco companies that cause so much harm to our health & well-being, which in turn puts a huge burden on our public services.<br /><br />By getting control over the Misuse of Drugs Act in Scotland we can end the failed war on drugs which has seen drug-related deaths rise to record levels. Regulation & taxation can fund addiction treatment services instead of wasting billions of pounds every year putting addicts through the courts and in our prisons.<br /><br />Drewnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603438996450817644.post-33743141942634442552017-08-07T07:54:24.712-07:002017-08-07T07:54:24.712-07:00"It costs much more to deliver health service..."It costs much more to deliver health services on an island or rural community than it does here in the centre of the city of Glasgow."<br /><br />Scotland's population density is 67.2/km2 compared to Sweden 21/km2, Finland 16/km2 Norway 14/km2 and Iceland 3.1/km2.<br /><br />The Scandinavian countries also have hundreds of islands like Scotland but our climate is milder.<br /><br />The reason the former health secretary blamed geography is because that is more palatable than telling voters in urban areas like Glasgow they eat too much, drink too much, smoke too much, are more prone to commit crime or take drugs and don't pay enough tax!<br /><br /><br /><br />Drewnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603438996450817644.post-82920927196109289342017-08-06T10:02:08.925-07:002017-08-06T10:02:08.925-07:00Why is the Barnett Formula needed and justified?
...Why is the Barnett Formula needed and justified? <br /><br />In this interview Nicola Sturgeon explains:<br /><br />"In terms of the point about per capita spending, there are very good reasons, as anybody who knows Scotland well as you certainly do for that difference. We have a country where one in five of our population lives in our rural and remote community. I was Health Secretary for five years. It costs much more to deliver health services on an island or rural community than it does here in the centre of the city of Glasgow."<br />https://youtu.be/eVynXGj4eyA<br /><br />It costs a lot more to provide services in Scotland, because of the challenging geography. <br /><br />When is she going to twig that after independence that same geography remains?<br /><br />After independence we will either have to accept a lower level of services, a higher level of taxation, or all be herded into the Central Belt.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com