Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much additional money has been provided to the government of Scotland to respond to recent instances of acute bad weather.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Scottish Government receives funding from the UK Government through the mechanical operation of the Barnett formula when there are changes to UK Government department funding.
Following Autumn Budget 2024, the Scottish Government is receiving £47.7 billion in 2025-26. This includes an additional £3.4 billion through the operation of the Barnett formula. This settlement is the largest in real terms since devolution.
Barnett-based funding for the Scottish Government is not ringfenced for a specific policy area such as responding to bad weather. This allows the Scottish Government the flexibility to allocate its funding across devolved areas as it sees fit, according to its own priorities and local circumstances. The Scottish Government is accountable to Scottish Parliament for these decisions.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to discuss with the Welsh Government the full implications of the proposed rises to National Insurance contributions which the Welsh Government will be responsible for implementing in the financial year 2025–26 and the timeframe; and what proportion of the additional payments which the Welsh Government as an employer will be required to make will be covered by additional funding from the Treasury.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury continues to engage closely with finance counterparts in the Welsh Government.
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor provided funding to the public sector to support them with the additional cost associated with changes to Employer National Insurance Contributions.
The Welsh Government will receive funding through the Barnett Formula in 2025-26 for any changes to UK Government department budgets, including support for Employer National Insurance Contributions. This is the normal operation of the funding arrangements as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.
This funding will be in addition to the Welsh Government’s record Spending Review settlement for 2025-26, which is the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received from Mencap and other organisations which support disabled people concerning the impact of the increase in national insurance payments on their ability to maintain the services they offer.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In order to repair the public finances and raise the revenue required to support public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance contributions (NICs).The Government has protected the smallest businesses and charities from the impact of the increase by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all next year, and that more than half of employers will see no change or will gain overall from this package. More broadly, within the tax system, the Government provides support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions. This includes reliefs for charitable giving, with more than £6 billion in charitable reliefs provided to charities, community amateur sports clubs (CASCs) and their donors in 2023 to 2024. The Government has published a Tax Information and Impact Note outlining the impact of these changes, and has engaged with a variety of bodies across the charitable sector.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money per head of population was paid by the Treasury to the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish Governments on the basis of the Barnett formula, in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
All devolved government settlements are growing in real terms in 2025-26.
The devolved governments’ Spending Review settlements for 2025-26 are the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution. They are each receiving at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK. That translates into over £16 billion more in 2025-26.
The Barnett formula ensures broadly the same change in funding per person across the whole of the UK, while the underlying baseline funding broadly reflects higher needs in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Fiscal Framework agreed between the UK and Welsh governments in 2016 added a needs-based factor into the Barnett formula to ensure Wales receives fair funding.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in each year from 1999 to 2024, what directions have been given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or the relevant Secretary of State, to the Crown Estate Commissioners under section 1 of the Crown Estate Act 1961.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Section 1 of the Crown Estate Act 1961 provides that the Chancellor of the Exchequer may direct the Commissioners as to the discharge of their functions under the Act, but in doing so must have regard to the general statutory duties of the Commissioners.
Neither the Treasury nor The Crown Estate have any known record of the power of direction in section 1 of the Crown Estate Act 1961 being used since the 1961 Act came into force.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to re-allocate to the Welsh Government the £400 million accumulated End Year Flexibility fund consolidated out of revenue underspend between 2007 and 2011.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The End Year Flexibility fund was replaced by the Budget Exchange mechanism in 2011. For the Welsh Government, this was then replaced by the Wales Reserve in 2016 to continue to allow Welsh Government to move funding between years. The Wales Reserve limit is £350 million.
Underspends that the Welsh Government are unable to manage within the Wales Reserve are returned to the Exchequer, as set out in the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance.
The Welsh Government receives around 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in England. That translates to £3.5 billion more per year on average for the Welsh Government. It is for the Welsh Government to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the current Crown Estate Commissioners live in Wales.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Crown Estate Commissioners are a public appointment made by The King on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. All Commissioner appointments are governed by the Code for Public Appointments.
As of October 2024, none of the current Commissioners declare a primary residence in Wales.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money private citizens paid to the Crown Estates in relation to their use of assets located in Wales in the financial year 2023–24.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Land owned in the UK by private companies is leased at market rates. The Crown Estate is an organisation that operates in the market, competing directly with the private sector, and as such their land is leased at market rates.
The Crown Estate total revenue of private leases of assets located in Wales for the financial year 2023/24 was £58,721.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money the government of Wales paid to the Crown Estates in the financial year 2023–24.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Land owned in the UK by private companies is leased at market rates. The Crown Estate is an organisation that operates in the market, competing directly with the private sector, and as such their land is leased at market rates.
The Crown Estate received £2,826 total revenue from Welsh Government for the financial year 2023-24.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money each of the 22 counties of Wales paid to the Crown Estates in the financial year 2023–24.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Crown Estate operates as an independent and unified commercial entity, engaging in a variety of business activities across Wales, England and Northern Ireland.
To achieve efficiency in its operations, The Crown Estate runs many of its functions at a whole enterprise level. Reflective of this whole enterprise approach, The Crown Estate runs a single set of accounts across its functions, which are not disaggregated according to administrative areas, local authorities or counties. Extracting the relevant information from the existing accounts into a bespoke format to align with the request for 22 counties of Wales would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold for Written Parliamentary Questions.