Written question WQ84222

In our engagement with UK Government and HM Treasury, we continue to press the case for the broader flexibilities that we need to manage our budget in the most effective way for the people of Wales. This includes continuing to press for increases to both the annual and aggregate limits on our access to capital borrowing, as well as for greater year-end carry forward and drawdown flexibilities within the Wales Reserve.

As set out in Reforming our Union: Shared governance in the UK (June 2021), the Welsh Government proposes that operation of the devolved resourcing arrangements, including determinations of devolved governments’ spending power and borrowing limits, should be the responsibility of a public agency accountable to all four administrations jointly. This would secure the legitimacy of the fiscal framework across the UK.

At a Finance Ministers Quadrilateral held on the 12 January, alongside Finance Ministers in Scotland and Northern Ireland, I called on HM Treasury to guarantee that money allocated to support Covid responses will be provided in full, and pressed the importance of maintaining the convention that late allocations of funding can be carried forward to next year’s budget to support effective budget management– Finance ministers call for Covid funding flexibility | GOV.WALES