Public Expenditure: Wales
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding was provided to the Welsh Government (a) through the Barnett consequentials and (b) any other mechanisms as a result of the increase in employer National Insurance Contributions for public sector employers in Wales in the 2025-2026 financial year.
Answered by James Murray
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 Welsh Government received £185 million of this support through the Barnett formula. This is the normal operation of the funding arrangements as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy. It is for the Welsh Government to allocate this funding in devolved areas including funding for local authorities as it sees fit, reflecting its own priorities and local circumstances, and it is accountable to the Senedd for these decisions.
HM Treasury ministers regularly engage with their Welsh Government counterparts, including through forums such as the Finance: Interministerial Standing Committee (F:ISC), to discuss a range of issues affecting Wales, including the impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on Welsh Government funding. The most recent F:ISC was on 17 October where these topics were discussed.
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