Covid: Welsh Government to receive extra £650m from Treasury

The Welsh Government is set to receive an extra £650m in funding as a result of additional Covid-19 spending by the UK Treasury.

It brings the total funding transferred from Westminster to Cardiff since the pandemic to £5.85bn.

Ministers in Cardiff will be able to carry any of the £650m not spent by April over to the next financial year.

Welcoming the cash, the Welsh Government said it "comes at the 11th hour".

A spokeswoman said the announcement comes "just days before we are due to publish our final spending plans for the year".

"It should also be noted that this is our Barnett [Formula] share of funding allocated to tackle the pandemic in England," she added.

"The limited arrangements to carry forward additional funding falls short of the full range of additional budgetary flexibilities we have been seeking, including full access to our own reserve next year."

Welsh Secretary Simon Hart said the extra funding for the Welsh Government was "on top of all of the other UK Government support packages including the furlough scheme, the Eat Out to Help Scheme and the different business loans".

"It is important that this funding now gets to the businesses and individuals across Wales as we look to rebuild the UK economy," he added.

Chief secretary to the Treasury, Steve Barclay, said: "We have worked closely with the Welsh Government in advance of this announcement to ensure they have the certainty they need ahead of finalising their budget on 16 February."

At the start of January, Boris Johnson was asked to apologise after the UK government wrongly announced that Wales would receive an additional £227m of funding.

Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts accused the Chancellor Rishi Sunak of "wilful misrepresentation" for announcing previously announced funding as new cash.

Abolish the Assembly MS Mark Reckless questioned why the Welsh Government says the money comes at the 11th hour "when they are told it can be carried forward and spent next year?"

The Treasury said rules limiting how much can be spent in the next financial year would not apply to the funding.

The Welsh Government also has about £655m to spend before the financial year ends in April, only £350m of which can be carried over into 2021-22.

Finance minister Rebecca Evans, who has asked the Treasury to change the rules, has said she would make a "whole range of allocations" soon.

Conservatives have accused ministers of sitting on the money, but the Welsh Government said it had provided businesses with more generous financial support than other UK nations.