Part of Wales’ crisis funds could have to be repaid
PART of an extra £270m allocated to Wales to deal with the Covid crisis would have to be repaid to the UK Government if it turns out to be more than NHS Wales is entitled to, it has emerged.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced extra allocations to the Welsh and Scottish governments and the Northern Ireland Executive.
In addition to the £270m for Wales, £440m was allocated to Scotland and £150m for Northern Ireland.
The extra amounts were announced in a press release from the Treasury, which stated: “The UK Government has today doubled the amount of additional funding available for the governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to tackle Covid.
“This means the devolved administrations can now spend an additional £860m, increased from the initial £430m announced [last] week.
“The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has confirmed this increased funding following discussions with the devolved administrations. This will continue to ensure the devolved administrations can take the Covid precautions they feel are necessary to keep people safe.”
The press release continued: “These amounts will continue to be kept under review. These are additional amounts on top of the combined £77.6bn confirmed for this year at the Autumn Budget 2021. It means that the devolved administrations have the certainty they requested to spend additional funding now rather than waiting for Supplementary Estimates in the new year.”
Mr Sunak said: “Following discussions with the devolved administrations, we are now doubling the additional funding available.
“We will continue to listen to and work with the devolved administrations in the face of this serious health crisis to ensure we’re getting the booster to people all over the UK and that people in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are supported.”
Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart added: “The UK Government has provided unprecedented support to people, businesses and administrations right across the UK since the beginning of the pandemic. This support continues with the doubling of upfront funding available for the Welsh Government to £270m, giving it the financial certainty it needs for its continued Covid-19 response.
“During the past two years we have tackled the pandemic as one United Kingdom, with the UK Government working alongside Welsh Government and providing vaccines, Covid testing and armed forces support in Wales, as well as our ground-breaking financial measures like furlough which have protected around 500,000 Welsh jobs.”
Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies said: “The Conservatives have consistently stepped up to the plate throughout the pandemic to help Welsh families, workers and businesses – and we’ve done so again.
“Throughout this crisis, the Chancellor and Prime Minister have ensured the United Kingdom has stood together as one family with over £9bn of Covid-19 support for Wales, and will continue to deliver through financial measures, vaccines, and boots on the ground.
“It’s now vital that Labour ministers use this money quickly to ramp up the vaccine rollout.”
However, a note at the bottom of the press release states: “If the amount of funding provided up front to each devolved administration is more than the Barnett consequentials confirmed at Supplementary Estimates then the difference will be repaid.”