Independence: Public Bodies "Could Cost £1.5 Billion"

Monday, 26 May 2014 06:58

The cost of setting up governmental bodies in an independent Scotland could cost 1.5 billion pounds, according to the UK Treasury.

That includes the likes of HM revenue and Customs, the DVLA and the Coastguard.

The research was based on costs in Canadian state Quebec - which has symbolic independence within the country - which have been estimated at 1% of GDP.

Each organisation is estimated at costing £15million each.

The Scottish government is calling the analysis "deeply flawed" - with more bodies estimated in the paper than Ministers have said they'll set up, and that the new firms would be cheaper by being slimmed down compared to their UK counterparts.

The Treasury is challenging the Scottish government to produce its own cost report.