ENGLAND is subsidising Scotland by £3 billion a year more than it needs at the expense of less affluent English regions, according to an academic audit.

A year-long study by two economists into the structure of subsidies concludes that Scots receive 22% more per head in public spending than England and that this is not deserved because people north of the border are already wealthier than people living in most English regions.

However, contrary to the claims of politicians such as Ken Livingstone, the London mayor, that inhabitants of the capital are losing out, the academics also find that Londoners receive 42% too much in public spending because they earn more than anywhere else in Britain.

The report by Professor David Bell of Stirling University and Professor Sir Donald MacKay, a former economics adviser to the Scottish secretaries for 25 years, was seized on by English politicians. Boris Johnson, the Tory shadow higher education minister, described the spending gap as “intolerable” and demanded that Gordon Brown, the chancellor, change the procedures for distributing money.

Johnson said the 30-year-old Barnett formula, under which the regional distribution of spending is calculated, should be scrapped.

The findings follow a recent poll which found that 70% of English voters believed Scotland’s share of public spending was too high. Since the Scottish parliament was created in 1999, the budget for devolved services, including education and health, has risen from £16 billion to almost £30 billion.

In the health service alone, spending is about £200 a head higher in Scotland than in England. Scots are able to use the extra money to fund free personal care for the elderly and to end upfront tuition fees and university top-up fees.

But Alex Salmond, the Scottish National party leader, dismissed calls for lower public spending. He said Scotland contributed more to the Treasury than it receives, mainly because of North Sea oil revenues.

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