The way Welsh Government funding is calculated has been labeled ‘unfair’ and ‘out of date’ by Wrexham AM Lesley Griffiths.
The comments follow a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Council, where First Minister Carwyn Jones raised the matter with the Prime Minister, David Cameron.
The Holtham Commission found this unfair funding has led to Wales losing £400 million funding per year due to the way funding is calculated by the ‘Barnett’ formula – created in the 1970s by then Chief Secretary of the Treasury, Joel Barnett. Barnett has himself since called for the formula to be revised.
Lesley Griffiths said:
“I am extremely pleased the First Minister has again raised this issue with David Cameron. I believe it is an issue everyone living in Wales should feel strongly about and it should not be let to lie.”
“The current situation is unfair and out of date. Welsh funding is calculated according to an outdated 1970s formula which does not account for needs, meaning we get less every year.
“This means Welsh people lose out to the tune of £130 pounds per person, per year- which impacts upon our public services and the economy.
“The sooner this is reviewed, the sooner more money can be used to ensure the Welsh economy continues to recover and more funding can be put into our public services. David Cameron and the UK government must address this issue urgently.”
The JMC is a yearly meeting between the heads of the UK devolved administrations, and was created through a Memorandum of Understanding between the UK Government and the four devolved governments in 1999.
