Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is her Department's policy that the classification of the East-West rail project as carrying 100% comparability factor for Wales is a publishing error in each Statement of funding policy, published between 2021 and 2024.

The UK Government is responsible for heavy rail infrastructure across England and Wales so spends money on this in Wales rather than funding the Welsh Government to do so through the Barnett formula. This approach applies to investment in heavy rail by the Department for Transport, including HS2 and East-West Rail, and is consistent with the funding arrangements for all other policy areas reserved in Wales as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.

We are aware of a potential error, originating in Spending Review 2021, with the Department for Transport comparability factor used to calculate Barnett consequentials for the devolved governments at spending reviews. HM Treasury will work through the impact of this potential error ahead of the next Statement of Funding Policy publication.