Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria they use to assess whether expenditure on rail infrastructure projects in England should attract Barnett consequentials for Wales; and whether they intend to publish the methodology and supporting evidence used in determining the comparability classification of heavy rail expenditure.

Responsibility for heavy rail infrastructure is reserved to the UK Government in Wales, so the UK Government invests directly in Wales rather than funding the Welsh Government to do so through the Barnett formula.

Comparability classifications used in the Barnett formula reflect the responsibilities of the Welsh Government under the devolution settlement. The England and Wales comparability classification is applied to heavy rail expenditure. A full list of comparability factors can be found in the Statement of Funding Policy.