Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department's fiscal rules require (a) programme and (b) departmental comparability factors to be applied to new funding announcements made outside of a Spending Review; and, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 23 October 2023 entitled Bus Funding Update, HCWS1084, whether the announcement of additional funding for the bus service operators grant programme will have a 100% programme comparability factor applied for Barnett formula consequential funding for Wales.

The Barnett formula will continue to apply in the usual way as set out in the published Statement of Funding Policy document. The Barnett formula is applied when departmental budgets change – not when departments announce how they are spending their budgets.

The Written Ministerial Statement of 23 October 2023 entitled 'Bus Funding Update’ did not announce additional funding for the Department of Transport. Any additional funding for the Department for Transport will be confirmed in the usual way.