Why is it fair that Scottish carers get more carers allowance than English carers?

[KindleAndCake]

With the carers supplement they get twice a year, it boils down to just over £11 a week more than English carers. They're all doing the same old slog, so why is it fair.
I am caring for 2 people, it is hard going. I only get carers for 1 though as that is how the system works. Ive just found out that Scottish carers get a supplement twice a year, lucky ducks. Well sort of, better than nowt.
So my question is, why? I thought we were one nation. Am I being unreasonable here.

We don't get free water. We are charged according to our council tax band and don't have the option of installing a meter. My mum lives on her own in my childhood home (she is planning on downsizing) and pays the same for her water as the 6 adults in the house two doors along which is the same band.

Well said @Butchyrestingface 😂😁

That extra spending is for the most part funded by higher taxes (that is from those who pay them in Scotland, there’s a lot of low rate/no tax payers) and a huge spending bump by way of the Barnett Formula which ensures Scotland have far more public spend per head than England.

an over reliance on the public sector as an employer in Scotland means not so much wealth generation either. The GDP is pretty poor.

incidentally around 90% of prescriptions in England are free, inc for long term health conditions and low income - so I don’t see the harm in the most well off and healthy shelling out when the need arises (including myself here)

look more closely at the ‘free’ education in Scotland and you’ll see a decline in the number of ‘free’ places for Scots kids from normal backgrounds. Places given to fee paying foreign and English students to keep the uni coffers topped up to pay for an ever decreasing number of Scottish students, and priority given to widening access candidates. The result is if you are an average Scottish kid with good grades you will find it difficult to get a place on a decent course in a Scottish uni.

As a Scot living in England - so a foot in both camps - I’m saddened to see how much Scotland has declined under devolution. Even worse under the mis-stewardship of the SNP. Most people in England looked at Nicola Sturgeon during covid and thought she was brilliant - compared to Boris Johnson that certainly wasn’t hard. But few seemed to look deeper.

England doesn't get those things free, because that is a decision your Parliament has chosen not to. You do actually get other things we don't and our Taxes are higher. So if you feel that what you get in England is unacceptable, please feel free to change things at the ballot-box - or complain to your MP?

And yet our teachers are paid less...

Ah, all those energy companies with head office in London and listing on Stock Exchange, which is traded in London. Yet the actual source of the wealth is via steel, oil, gas, nuclear and renewables, and a multitude of other companies who work across the UK and employ people in all four home nations, but the profit and shareholder benefit is assigned to London and South East...
And of course we need to ask why London gets a larger share of many things - such as 4x the amount spent on public transport than other areas of the UK?

Because they have to live in Scotland 🤣 I am kidding obviously.

but considering that there are lots of other things that are different, where Scots get a better deal on some things, they don’t on others…I really don’t see the issue here

Parents in Scotland also get the Scottish child payment if they receive any qualifying benefit, which is around £50 a month per child. So you get UC, CB and then Scottish child payment on top, which you other nations don’t get.

We have different tax structures, and it’s what our government has chosen to spend money on 🤷‍♀️

And of course we need to ask why London gets a larger share of many things - such as 4x the amount spent on public transport than other areas of the UK?

@outdooryone maybe the sheer number of people requiring it 🤦‍♀️ 1.1 million commuters travelling in each day to add to the 8.9million who live there?

There’s only 5.5m people in the whole of Scotland!

But we still need to commute.

I live in a town 20 miles from Glasgow. The bus to and from Glasgow stops running at 6pm on weekdays and doesn’t run at all over Saturday and Sunday. The train runs, but once an hour and gets cancelled far more than is acceptable due to maintenance and staffing issues.
This isn’t unique; this is pretty normal for town after town within commuting distance of Glasgow. I’d assume the same for our other cities. It’s woeful. Yes, we have fewer people but it really shouldn’t be so nearly impossible to commute from so many towns within actual commutable distances. I think we are allowed to complain about it without being told, “well, there is only 5 milllion of you.”

Because Scotland is better. Aye!!!!

Can you clarify your public transport spending comment as I think you may be mistaken.

@TruthOrAlethiometer I totally agree with you. Grew up about the same distance from Glasgow and the transport absolutely should be better. Was more addressing the comment that a mega city the size of London would of course have more transport costs (am talking overall, not necessarily per capita) because of the sheer volume of people.

that said - Scotgov could choose to spend less on some projects to inject more into a pretty dire set up. But that means making the hard choice to take cash from elsewhere, and they aren’t good at unpopular but necessary decisions.

And services seem to be getting chipped away at every year, with “alternative timetables” phrase trotted out to hide missed punctuality and cancelled trains. I’ve never known it so bad.

I’m sorry you have to commute in it 😓

Ok, so not as simple as
"because we pay more taxes"
"because we are a completely different country" as a lot of responses on this thread have suggested.

Well it's a different country. No point in comparing. You get free prescriptions in Scotland and free University fees too. But my MIL council tax is much higher than mine.

No not at all. As part of the uk we get a redistribution of UK wealth, and that makes up a large part of scotlands budget.

which goes to fund public transport in Scotland. If you don’t like your public transport, blame the Scottish government. It’s got nothing to do with Westminster. They do spend more on public transport in England - see HS2 - but as this is an English project Scotland gets an equivalent amount given to it to spend on equivalent Scottish projects via the Barnett formula.

The Scottish Government make the decision on how to spend their tax payers money, same as they do in Wales and same as in England

why aren’t you saying it’s not fair because some one in say Norway gets more - different nations, different governments decisions.

people in Scotland pay more in tax than those in England - is that fair???

Oh and there are some truly diabolical Train services in England too. West cost main line. Transpennine. Really terrible.

Devolved government can decide on their own rates etc for some benefits

.

We all pay more in tax so that these benefits can be provided.

Free personal care for elderly and disabled..

Scottish child payment is £100 per month

I've been busy caring, not had time to reply. What case am I meant to be answering for?

So there's that thing called devolution...