Question reference: S5W-36204
- Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 11 March 2021
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Current status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 19 March 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how much has been spent on average (a) per year and (b) per person, in each year since 2016-17 on (i) agriculture, (ii) fisheries and (iii) forestry in Scotland, and what information it has on how this compares with (A) England and (B) Wales.
Answer
The Scottish Government publishes data on spending for agriculture, fisheries and forestry in the annual Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland (GERS) report. Average annual spend for the last four years in agriculture, fisheries and forestry was £908 million, which is on average £167 per person in Scotland.
Using a slightly different methodology, the HMT Country and Regional Analysis 2020 Report provides a comparison between Scotland, England and Wales. A summary of the data for agriculture, fisheries and forestry has been provided in the following table with additional information on spending per capita provided by Scottish Government.
The Scottish Government does not routinely publish comparisons for the individual categories for agriculture, fisheries and forestry and there is no comparative information held in the HMT report either.
Table 1: Total spend for ‘Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’ in Scotland, England and Wales and spend per capita
Year | Scotland | England | Wales | |||
Total £ million | £ per capita | Total £ million | £ per capita | Total £ million | £ per capita | |
2016-2017 | 929 | 172 | 3,247 | 59 | 464 | 149 |
2017-2018 | 908 | 167 | 3,159 | 57 | 498 | 159 |
2018-2019 | 924 | 170 | 3,655 | 65 | 519 | 165 |
2019-2020 | 880 | 161 | 3,853 | 68 | 500 | 159 |
Total (£) | 3,642* | 670* | 13,914 | 249 | 1,981 | 632 |
2016-2020 Average (£) | 911 | 168 | 3,479 | 62 | 495 | 158 |
*Total different due to rounding