Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the amount of funding being allocated by the UK Government to each of the devolved administrations to fund the direct and indirect cost of higher National Insurance Contributions on local government is in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland; and what proportion of the direct and indirect costs must be funded by the devolved Administrations.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor agreed to provide funding to the public sector to support them with the additional cost associated with changes to employer National Insurance Contributions policy.

The devolved governments will receive funding through the Barnett formula in the usual way in 2025-26, including on this support. This is the normal operation of the funding arrangements as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy. The outcome of the Barnett formula will be confirmed, and funding provided for all devolved governments at Main Estimates 2025-26.

It is for the devolved governments to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit, including on workforce. They can therefore take their own decisions on managing and investing available resources, reflecting their own priorities and local circumstances, and they are accountable to the devolved legislatures for these decisions.

The devolved governments’ Phase 1 Spending Review 2025 settlements are growing in real terms in 2025-26 and are the largest spending review settlements in real terms of any settlements since devolution. The devolved governments are each receiving at least 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK. That translates into over £16 billion more in 2025-26.