Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, has kicked off its election campaign by demanding the same levels of funding per head as Scotland. How far behind is Wales?
In 2013-14, public spending, external in Wales was £9,924 per head. The Scots got £10,275 per head, meaning that if Plaid were to get their wish, then Wales would benefit from an extra £351 per person.
However, if we put the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom into a spending-per-head league table then Scotland and Wales sit comfortably in the middle.
English (£8,678 per head) complaints about higher public spending are generally directed at Scotland.
But spending per head is actually highest in Northern Ireland at £10,961 per head, which is 23% above the UK average, which itself works out as £8,936 per head.
These per-head figures will be interesting to watch in any post-election negotiations.
- Published31 March 2015
- Published31 March 2015
- Published30 March 2015
