Lord Wigley
Main Page: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Lord Wigley
To ask His Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with the newly elected Government of Wales regarding the funding of devolved public services.
Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Katz) (Lab)
My Lords, on 18 May the Secretary of State for Wales held her first call with the new First Minister of Wales. The Secretary of State made clear the benefit of the UK and Welsh Governments working together on shared priorities around public services and economic growth. That follows on from a call held between the Prime Minister and the new First Minister, during which the Prime Minister offered to meet in person in June to discuss shared issues and priorities.
Lord Wigley (PC)
My Lords, is the Minister aware of the huge controversy in Wales arising from the UK Government’s refusal to provide Barnett consequentials for capital rail projects such as HS2 and the Oxford to Cambridge rail link, on the spurious pretext that such south-east of England schemes are of direct benefit to Wales? To open a new chapter on major project funding, will the Government please consider co-funding two urgent capital road projects of direct benefit to both Wales and England: namely, the tackling of the M4 bottleneck at Newport, which affects the strategic road link between London, southern Wales and Ireland; and secondly, the need for a new road bridge across the Menai Straits to cope with the additional traffic associated with the Wylfa nuclear project? Will the Government be open to discussing those matters?
Lord Katz (Lab)
Of course, the Government are always open to having constructive dialogue with the Welsh Government about new projects—and, indeed, to considering any requests from the Welsh Government. The noble Lord’s question ignores the fact that the UK Government recently agreed a £14 billion plan for the future of Welsh rail, which is far more than the Welsh Government would have received had HS2 or any heavy rail project been developed. I should point out that work is already under way, with nearly half a billion pounds having been secured in the year’s spending review, which will deliver new stations for the Welsh railway network and faster journeys and better services for passengers, connecting people to jobs and unlocking 12,000 jobs in Wales. However, we will of course continue to discuss future capital projects with Welsh Government.