§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the growth was in public expenditure between 2000–01 and 2003–04(a) which was used as comparable spending with Scotland for the purposes of the Barnett Formula, (b) for Barnett comparable spending in Scotland and (c) in the North East for programmes which were comparable with the Barnett Formula compensation programmes in Scotland. [185594]
§ Mr. BoatengInformation on identifiable public spending in Scotland and the North East is published in Chapter 8 of Public Expenditure Spending Analyses (Cmd. 6201). The basis of the Barnett formula comparability factors used for the 2004 Spending Review was published in the Statement of Funding Policy in July 2004 and for the 2002 Spending Review in July 2002. The Barnett formula is used to determine increases in spending of the devolved administrations, rather than the levels of spending in English regions.