WESTMINSTER has come under fire after it emerged that Scotland will get just a fraction of the funds promised in the UK Government’s emergency spending plan.

An extra £800 million was pledged last week to the Scottish Government in the Chancellor’s summer economic update.

This figure was hotly contested by the Scottish Government, which put the “absolutely new” extra funds available to Holyrood at nearer £21m.

The latter figure has been confirmed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), which warns the Treasury its "lack of transparency" is "corrosive of trust".

Nicola Sturgeon praised Finance Secretary Kate Forbes for working out the real figure before the news came to light.

She tweeted: "It was @KateForbesMSP who figured it out, and pretty quickly too. And she was rounded on by Scot Tories claiming she was wrong. She wasn’t."

The Fraser of Allander Institute said the "point about transparency and lack of clarity is well made".

It tweeted: "Good thread which matches our thoughts last week where we argued that whilst a lot of new money is flowing to Scotland for COVID– as yet – funds for economy provide little ‘additional’ consequentials to SG beyond what had already been announced due to shifting pots of money. 

"...and the fact that the measures are instead direct support for business and individuals. As always everyone is correct in what they said, but point about transparency and lack of clarity is well made. All governments are guilty of this in their budgets and must do better."

Douglas Fraser, the BBC's business and economy editor, said Rishi Sunak has been "rumbled".

Overall, the report found the UK Government’s emergency Plan for Jobs to tackle the coronavirus crisis will involve up to £10 billion less spending on previously planned projects.

The IFS revealed that the proposals – which the Chancellor said could amount to up to £30bn of support – are partly funded by spending cuts on previously planned projects and investments which are now deemed less of a priority or infeasible given the Covid-19 plan.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said Sunak's Plan for Jobs would ultimately cost around £20bn. Alongside the major announcements, it was revealed "with much less fanfare" that there were reductions in previously planned spending.

According to the IFS, the Treasury's decisions on funding for the devolved administrations suggest they expect these underspends to amount to almost £8bn, while the OBR expects it to be more like £10bn.

For instance, the IFS said the £2bn green homes grant announced by Sunak is funded from within pre-existing spending limits and almost half the £400m of cash for traineeships and apprenticeships is reallocated money.

IFS associate director David Phillips said: "In its summer economic update last week, the UK Government launched its £30bn Plan for Jobs. What it didn't say was that almost £8bn of that is to be paid for by spending less than previously planned on other things.

"Indeed, the whole of the £5bn of additional capital spending trumpeted by the Prime Minister a couple of weeks ago in fact represents funding previously allocated to other capital projects which will no longer happen this year.'

"Meanwhile, the OBR thinks the Plan for Jobs will cost £20 billion, not £3bn. So the £30bn package turns out to be more like £12bn of additional spending plus some £8bn or so reallocated from previously planned projects.

"And capital spending is actually left no higher overall than was planned back in March.

"While such reallocations may be perfectly sensible – the Covid-19 crisis may have made some projects less of a priority or even infeasible in the short term – official policy documents should be clear what is happening and where spending is expected to be lower than previously planned."