Plaid Cymru has questioned whether the ConDem government has given any consideration at all to the recommendations of the Holtham commission into how Wales is funded.
Plaid’s Assembly Finance spokesperson Chris Franks AM’s comments followed a radio interview with Francis Maude, the paymaster general who also holds the post of cabinet office minister. Francis Maude told listeners that reforming the Barnett formula was ‘not a priority’ for the ConDem government. When he was then questioned about the Holtham Commission’s findings, it became clear that he was not familiar with the report and in fact confused the Commission with the All Wales Convention.
Chris Franks AM (pictured) said:
“Francis Maude’s comments make us question whether the ConDem coalition has even discussed the work that was undertaken by the Holtham Commission. More worrying it seems that they don’t even know what the difference between the Holtham Commission and the All Wales Convention. This shows a staggering lack of understanding about the politics of Wales and unfortunately yet again highlights that Wales is nothing more than an after thought to the London based parties.
“Kirsty Williams and Nick Bourne should be rattling the cages of their bosses to highlight the need for financial reform in Wales. Instead, they seem content to simply sit back, and allow thousands of public sector workers to be made redundant because cabinet members haven’t even taken on board the fundamental failings costing Wales around £300m per year.
“David Cameron has said that the Westminster government will look at the Barnett formula, but here you have the paymaster general saying they are committed to keeping it. Clearly any review is nothing more than window dressing. The fact of the matter is that a detailed review has already been carried out by the Holtham Commission, yet Conservative and Lib Dem MPs would rather bury their heads in the sand than address the increasingly unfair funding faced by Wales. Francis Maude says that reforming Barnett isn’t a priority for his government – what’s becoming increasingly clear is that Wales isn’t a priority for his government.”
