Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much the Welsh Government received in Barnett consequentials in 2025–26 from the childcare offer in England.

The Barnett formula applies to all changes to UK Government department Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) funding.

At Spending Reviews, the Barnett consequentials associated with individual programmes cannot be identified because the Barnett formula is applied to the overall change in a departments’ DEL, and not to the individual programmes driving the change in a UK department’s DEL budget. This is the case for the additional funding for childcare in England provided at Spending Review 2025.

The Welsh Government are free to allocate Barnett consequentials as they see fit across their devolved priorities, and they are accountable to the Senedd for these decisions.