A Facebook post claims that Scotland’s bill for the High Speed Two rail network (HS2) is £17 billion, despite the fact that the line won’t reach Scotland.

There’s no evidence that Scotland will pay £17 billion for HS2. The project is being wholly funded by the UK government, not devolved governments. Public finances are not calculated in such a way that costs of specific projects are allocated out to the UK’s nations.

This aside, when the UK government increases spending which doesn’t affect a devolved nation, that devolved nation receives money, equivalent to its population share, back to spend itself. This is the case with HS2 and Scotland which means that, in effect, all money spent on HS2 which is raised by Scottish taxes will be returned via something called the Barnett formula. 

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