Member

But also, as I understand it—the Minister will confirm —where the public sector is going to be reimbursed for increases in employers’ national insurance contribution payments, the payment to Scotland will be on the Barnett formula, which is based on population in Scotland and does not reflect the fact that the structure of the public sector is different there and is therefore proportionately bigger than the proportion reflected through population. In other words, whereas a public service agency in London, for example, would be fully reimbursed for the additional cost of employers’ NICs, its equivalent in Scotland is unlikely to be fully reimbursed because the reimbursement is tied to the Barnett formula. We have asked for a review here but really, there should be far more engagement between the two Governments to try to sort this out. I beg to move.