DECISIONS by the SNP government have seen growth in health and school spending lag behind rises in England, according to a new academic analysis.

If health spending increases in Scotland had kept pace with England over the past decade, the Scottish NHS would have been £1bn better off in 2015/16, it concluded.

However it also found spending on social care, universities and the police was markedly higher in Scotland than south of the border.

The conclusions are in a new paper on spending priorities by Professor Jim Gallagher, a former policy adviser to the Better Together campaign now at Nuffield College, Oxford.

Public spending in Scotland is around 20 per cent higher per head than in England.

When the SNP came to power, health spending per head was 16 per cent higher per head, but then fell steadily until it was 7.5 per cent higher in 2015/16.

Prof Gallagher wrote said: “This has not been caused by an overall squeeze on the Scottish budget, but by the priority choices of Scottish ministers, who have given less of a priority to spending on health services than to their budget as a whole, and have therefore allowed English spending to catch up.

“Per head, spending in England grew by 39 per cent, but by only 28 per cent in Scotland.

“Had Scottish health spending per head kept pace with English spending, it would have been around £1bn a year higher in 2015-16.”

Despite Nicola Sturgeon making closing the attainment gap her top priority, Prof Gallagher also found Scottish school spending per head, which was 18 per cent higher in 2006/07, was now “virtually the same per head as in England”, as the latter had caught up.

However the SNP’s decision to keep tuition free for Scots and EU students meant university spending was almost twice as high per head in Scotland.

Spending on policing was also around 20 per higher in Scotland.

And while the gap between health spending had narrowed, spending per head on social services in Scotland was up from 11 per cent higher in 2006/07 to 40 per cent higher in 2015/16.

The Scottish Tories said the figures underlined the 'Union dividend'.

MSP Murdo Fraser said: “This analysis proves that public expenditure in Scotland remains far higher than south of the border, thanks to our UK funding settlement.

"But it's worrying that not enough of this money is reaching the front line.

“Given the struggles currently being experienced in our schools and hospitals, it’s clear that we need public sector reform to make sure more of this cash goes straight to public services.

“This report also quashes any argument for higher taxes, as it’s not a lack of funding that can be blamed for the problems in our public services, but how it is being spent.”

Labour 's Jackie Baillie said: “This report exposes the fact the SNP has short-changed Scotland’s schools and hospitals.

“Education was supposed to be the top priority for the SNP – instead school budgets are near breaking point. The Nationalists promised to protect the NHS – instead they have short changed it by £1bn a year.

“Nicola Sturgeon asked to be judged on her record – after a decade in power that record is now clear – less funding for our schools and hospitals.”

Scottish Labour leadership candidate Anas Sarwar added: “This is a damning report which exposes how the SNP has short-changed our NHS.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “These figures show the Scottish Government is investing more per head than the rest of the UK on the key aers of health, education, justice and economic development, showing our commitment to public services.”