This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/08/scots-to-revise-funding-plan-after-talks-with-uk-government-fail
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Scots to revise funding plan after talks with UK government fail | Scots to revise funding plan after talks with UK government fail |
| (7 months later) | |
| Scottish ministers are to make a revised offer to the UK government after a further round of ministerial talks on a new funding deal for Holyrood broke up without agreement. | Scottish ministers are to make a revised offer to the UK government after a further round of ministerial talks on a new funding deal for Holyrood broke up without agreement. |
| Greg Hands, the chief secretary to the Treasury, had flown to Edinburgh for talks with John Swinney, the Scottish finance secretary, late on Monday in a renewed effort to agree a new funding formula for Scotland’s devolved government. | Greg Hands, the chief secretary to the Treasury, had flown to Edinburgh for talks with John Swinney, the Scottish finance secretary, late on Monday in a renewed effort to agree a new funding formula for Scotland’s devolved government. |
| The failure to agree a deal makes it increasingly likely a deadline set by Holyrood for this Friday will be missed, pushing the talks far closer to the date when the Scottish parliament will be dissolved on 24 March for its May election contest. | The failure to agree a deal makes it increasingly likely a deadline set by Holyrood for this Friday will be missed, pushing the talks far closer to the date when the Scottish parliament will be dissolved on 24 March for its May election contest. |
| In a clear indication the deadline would be missed, the UK government is to move back the dates for the next debates at Westminster on the Scotland bill at the centre of the dispute, and is preparing for further ministerial talks this week. | In a clear indication the deadline would be missed, the UK government is to move back the dates for the next debates at Westminster on the Scotland bill at the centre of the dispute, and is preparing for further ministerial talks this week. |
| That legislation, agreed after the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, will give Holyrood £15bn worth of new income tax and welfare powers, and assign it 50% of all VAT raised in Scotland, currently worth £4bn a year. | That legislation, agreed after the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, will give Holyrood £15bn worth of new income tax and welfare powers, and assign it 50% of all VAT raised in Scotland, currently worth £4bn a year. |
| But those new financial powers will cut the Treasury’s grant to Holyrood by the same amount. With billions of pounds at stake, the two governments are at loggerheads over how to calculate the grant in future by allowing for different rates of population and taxation growth. | But those new financial powers will cut the Treasury’s grant to Holyrood by the same amount. With billions of pounds at stake, the two governments are at loggerheads over how to calculate the grant in future by allowing for different rates of population and taxation growth. |
| Speaking to the media before he flew back to London, Hands refused to discuss the talks in detail but said that if the Treasury’s proposed system had been in use from the start of devolution in 1999, then Holyrood would have received slightly more money than it had under the current Barnett formula system. | Speaking to the media before he flew back to London, Hands refused to discuss the talks in detail but said that if the Treasury’s proposed system had been in use from the start of devolution in 1999, then Holyrood would have received slightly more money than it had under the current Barnett formula system. |
| Scottish ministers have rejected that proposal, insisting that, including North Sea revenues, Scotland generated a large surplus which was greater than the Barnett formula returned to Scotland. | Scottish ministers have rejected that proposal, insisting that, including North Sea revenues, Scotland generated a large surplus which was greater than the Barnett formula returned to Scotland. |
| A Treasury spokesman insisted the UK government was committed to honouring the terms of the agreement orchestrated by Lord Smith after the referendum, which was agreed by both governments in late 2014. | A Treasury spokesman insisted the UK government was committed to honouring the terms of the agreement orchestrated by Lord Smith after the referendum, which was agreed by both governments in late 2014. |
| “While there are still some difficult issues to resolve, we’re at the business end of negotiations and remain confident that a deal can be reached that is fair to Scotland and fair to the rest of the UK, now and in the future,” the spokesman said. | “While there are still some difficult issues to resolve, we’re at the business end of negotiations and remain confident that a deal can be reached that is fair to Scotland and fair to the rest of the UK, now and in the future,” the spokesman said. |
| In a brief statement, Swinney said: “We are working very hard to secure an agreement, but we should not underestimate the scale of the issues that we have to overcome. | In a brief statement, Swinney said: “We are working very hard to secure an agreement, but we should not underestimate the scale of the issues that we have to overcome. |
| “The Scottish government will put forward new proposals in light of today’s discussion which will be rooted in the Smith commission and ensure that neither Scotland, nor the UK, will be better or worse off as a consequence of the devolution of new powers. I am determined to get an agreement, but only one that is fair to Scotland.” | “The Scottish government will put forward new proposals in light of today’s discussion which will be rooted in the Smith commission and ensure that neither Scotland, nor the UK, will be better or worse off as a consequence of the devolution of new powers. I am determined to get an agreement, but only one that is fair to Scotland.” |
| Much of the dispute centres on differing views of whether the UK government’s offer meets a key phrase in the Smith agreement that there would be “no detriment” to either government once the new fiscal framework comes into force. | Much of the dispute centres on differing views of whether the UK government’s offer meets a key phrase in the Smith agreement that there would be “no detriment” to either government once the new fiscal framework comes into force. |
| Treasury officials insist that means that in the years after the deal comes into force, both Scotland and the rest of the UK reap the benefits of any increase in tax receipts in their own countries. They argue this “does not mean that Scotland, or the UK, are forever protected from the consequence of any bad decisions they make”. | Treasury officials insist that means that in the years after the deal comes into force, both Scotland and the rest of the UK reap the benefits of any increase in tax receipts in their own countries. They argue this “does not mean that Scotland, or the UK, are forever protected from the consequence of any bad decisions they make”. |