Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 11 of the Written Statement of 13 October 2020, HCWS508 on High Speed Two: Update to Parliament, Autumn 2020, what level of Barnett Consequential money is to derive to Scotland (a) in total and (b) to provide an annual profile of the projected allocation of the £11.5 billion contracted spend.

As set out in the Treasury’s Statement of Funding Policy, the Barnett formula is applied at departmental level at Spending Reviews, and at programme level at fiscal events.

Since HS2 typically receives its annual funding through the Department for Transport’s settlements at Spending Reviews, the spending on HS2 cannot be associated with specific Barnett consequentials. The Scottish Government’s Barnett consequentials resulting from changes in the Department for Transport’s budget were £1.3 billion at Spending Review 2015 (which determined resource funding up to 2019-20 and capital funding to 2020-21), and £48 million at Spending Round 2019 (which just determined 2020-21 resource funding).

Funding for future years will be settled at the upcoming Spending Review.