Wales’ Finance Minister has met the UK Government’s
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, with the devastating job losses
threatened at Tata and continued budgetary concerns at the fore
of discussions.
The meeting with the Chief Secretary took place in Edinburgh as
part of a series of cross-government finance meetings hosted by
the Scottish Government.
raised concerns in relation
to the potential closure of the blast furnaces at Tata’s Port
Talbot site, and the importance of support for those impacted at
the steel works and within the wider community.
She said: “The speed and scale of the threatened job losses are a
serious concern. It is crucial that the UK Government, working
with Tata steel, takes steps to ease the transition to greener
steel and preserve more jobs.
“It is extremely important that the funds promised by the UK
Government impact across all communities and individuals affected
by redundancy and closures – the ramifications of this situation
are far-reaching.”
The Minister also raised concerns that the UK Government is
willing to grant additional budget flexibilities to both Scottish
Government and Northern Ireland, but not to Wales.
She said: “We are simply seeking parity with Scotland to hold the
budget flexibilities we should, rightly, hold here. The current
limits on our flexibility makes it harder to respond quickly to
emerging needs which in turn hampers our ability to maximise
value for money.”
Prior to the meeting with the Chief Secretary, Ministers and
representatives from all four UK nations convened for their
quarterly Finance: Inter-ministerial Standing Committee (F:ISC).
Here the Finance Minister made the case for more funding for
public services.
She said: “I urge the UK Government to use any emerging fiscal
headroom to provide critical resources for public services in the
Spring Budget. A choice to cut taxes is effectively a choice to
cut spending, and the Chancellor needs to recognise the
significant pressures faced by the already hard-pressed services
upon which the public depends.”
Both Wales and Scotland’s Ministers reiterated how the
cost-of-living crisis should be a priority within the upcoming
Spring Budget, signalling support for the Joseph Rowntree
Foundation and Trussell Trust’s calls for the UK Government to
fundamentally reform how benefit rates are determined and
implement an Essentials Guarantee to ensure people are at least
able to meet their basic costs.
Notes to editors
During the meeting, the Minister also pressed the UK Government
on other key priorities including calls to reclassify HS2 as an
England-only project and review rail infrastructure funding, and
to make a funding contribution towards remediation of drainage
systems at coal tip sites.
