£175m funding “shambles” – confusion over cost of living consequentials highlights need for funding clarity, says Plaid Cymru
On Thursday 3 February, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a council tax rebate for England, and in response to a Welsh MP colleague, added “I can confirm that the Welsh Administration will receive £175 million or so in Barnett consequentials.”
Following the announcement, the Welsh Conservatives issued a press release in which they made suggestions what the Welsh Government should use the “new £175m” for.
Today (Wednesday 9 February), the First Minister Mark Drakeford tweeted about the £175m, saying “we’ve learned there’s no extra money for Wales.”
The tweet was immediately refuted by Simon Clark MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who stated “The Welsh Government will receive £180m of Barnett consequentials as a result of the Council Tax rebate announced by the Chancellor.”
Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for finance, Llŷr Gruffydd MS said,
“The murky waters of the funding arrangement between Westminster and the Welsh Government have been stirred up once again. There seems to be constant confusion around consequential funding to Wales, which tells us everything we need to know about the current devolution settlement.
“Despite numerous requests for greater transparency around this process, it seems that the Westminster government is content for Wales to have to play a constant guessing game when it comes to funding.
“When it comes to dealing with the cost of living crisis, the people of Wales deserve better than being caught in the middle of a twitter slanging match between the two governments.”
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