Anger as major Liverpool – Hull rail link designated as ‘England and Wales’ project
Emily Price
A row has broken out over a multi-billion-pound rail link between Liverpool and Hull which has been designated as an “England and Wales” project by the UK Government.
Northern Powerhouse Rail, sometimes referred to unofficially as High Speed 3, is designed to enhance connections between major cities in the north of England, such as Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Hull.
Despite not a single centimetre of the railway line’s track passing into Wales it has been designated as an England and Wales project by the Labour government in Westminister.
The Liberal Democrats say this classification will see Wales miss out on between £1.34 billion – £1.59 billion in consequential funding, while Scotland is set to receive £2.7 billion and Northern Ireland will receive just under £1 billion from the project.
The UK Government says the Lib Dems claims are “untrue”.
A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “This classification does not change the funding Wales gets. We’re directly investing £445 million to modernise Welsh rail and deliver new stations, faster journeys, and better connections across North and South Wales, including £77.8 million for major upgrades at Cardiff Central.”
The new scandal follows the UK Government’s controversial handling of HS2 funding, where the £100 billion high-speed rail link was classified as an “England and Wales” scheme despite none of the track crossing the Welsh border.
This classification meant no consequential cash was released to Wales by the Treasury using the barnett formula.
This is usually determined based on whether the UK Government increases or decreases funding for departments that cover devolved areas.
In contrast, Scotland and Northern Ireland both received full funding uplifts.
The cash amount thought to be owed to Wales from HS2 was previously calculated by the Senedd’s Finance Committee and academics at Cardiff University at around £4bn.
Welsh ministers have since revised that figure down to around £350m.
Earlier this year it was revealed that the UK Government had classed the multi-billion pound Oxford and Cambridge rail line as an “England and Wales” scheme.
Billions
The Lib Dems say that Wales missed out on between £306 million and £363 million due to the designation of the project and that if the losses of all three English rail projects were combined, Wales would be owed around £6 billion in transport funding.
Earlier this year the UK Government announced it would invest £445 million in Welsh rail infrastructure across a ten year period.
The funding settlement was branded an “absolute joke” by opposition parties in Wales and Westminister.
Calls have been made for the UK Government to devolve heavy rail to Wales, as it is in Scotland or Northern Ireland, to put an end to unfair funding scandals.
Questions
Questions have also been raised about why the UK Government doesn’t simply classify the projects as “England only” to trigger consequential funding for Wales.
Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster Spokesperson David Chadwick said: “This Labour Government is deliberately depriving Welsh communities of billions of pounds in transport funding, whilst expecting a pat on the back for delivering crumbs.
“Labour has the power to change the system and stop these funding scandals, but has made its position clear, they are happy for Wales to be left behind, paying for megaprojects in England whilst our own rail and transport infrastructure collapses.
“The Welsh Liberal Democrats will continue to fight for fair transport funding that delivers for our communities and businesses.”
The Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd have also slammed the UK Government over its classification of Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Fair share
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Transport and Infrastructure, Sam Rowlands said: “The Welsh Conservatives have consistently called for Wales to be awarded its fair share of consequentials from HS2.
“By classifying the Northern Powerhouse Rail project as England and Wales, Labour has ensured that Wales misses out once again.
“The previous Conservative Government not only provided half the funding for the South Wales Metro and delivered a larger rail funding settlement than the current UK Labour Government, who have since slashed rail investment in half, but also committed £1 billion to electrify the North Wales Main Line, a project Labour scrapped when they came into office.”
Plaid Cymru Treasury spokesperson, Ben Lake MP says the way Wales is funded is “fundamentally broken”.
He said: “Plaid Cymru called on the Conservatives not to create another scandal when Northern Powerhouse Rail was first announced, and we’ve repeatedly urged Labour to fix it. Instead, Labour has chosen to continue with an arrangement that sees Wales losing out yet again.
“Westminster governments of all colours have hidden behind the ‘England-and-Wales’ label to deny Wales its fair share from rail projects that don’t include a single centimetre of track in Wales.
“If we’re serious about ending these scandals, heavy rail must be devolved to Wales so that England-only projects are treated appropriately and funding allocated fairly to projects in Wales.
“Welsh communities deserve investment, and our infrastructure is in desperate need of funding.”
The Welsh Government says it has continually been underfunded on rail investment.
A spokesperson said: “Despite securing nearly £6bn extra funding in our settlement from the UK Government this year, we have been clear that Wales has been underfunded in rail infrastructure investment.
“This historic underfunding has now been recognised by the UK Government and we will continue to work with them on ambitious projects to deliver further rail improvements across Wales.”
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Labour again playing silly games to keep the Treasury happy but not their voters. Why vote Labour when they do not have Wales’ interests at heart?
Another nail in their coffins for next May and they are too arogant/stupid to seeit
Go on Eluned, say something. Go on, just this once. Dare ya.
A serious government would be working with the Irish government and Brussels to build a Hull to Dublin link.
The UK has a seriousness problem.
When it comes to the countries of Wales and Scotland a Westminster government give them no consideration at all when they make their decisions. We are classed the same as English regions and in their arrogance they think our views don’t matter.
They will matter though when it comes to the election in May 2026 and we will be heard then so make it count and send them the message they need to hear.
Taking the p**s again
It really would be interesting to do a bit of investigation as to why Welsh Government turned down the devolution of rail infrastructure nearly 20 years ago.
They made a foolish assumption that central government could be trusted to do a reasonable job, and not abuse this power to benefit their own patch.
‘It really would be interesting to do a bit of investigation’
No need for an investigation Labour are a British Nationalist Party and are therefore loathe to devolve more than the least they can get away with.
Illogical comment. A Labour Welsh Government was offered it by a UK Labour Government. I have no time for either; but this is more to do with lack of ambition. And Plaid subsequently defended the decision when in government. Makes all the current rhetoric sound rather hollow.
Under what conditions was devolution of rail infrastructure pre the One Wales Government of 2007-2011 offered by the UK Labour government?
To clarify your statement, from 2007-2011 Plaid Cymru was the junior partner in the One Wales Government. I can’t remember Labour or the ConLibDem governments offering devolution of rail infrastructure during this time. Have you any links that can help me out?
I don’t know what conditions, if any, were attached to the offer. That is one reason, amongst many, why an investigation of the circumstances would be beneficial.
As for Plaid’s defence of the decision, follow the link in Mark Barry’s post below. Under the heading “A reminder of the funding issue” (about halfway down), there is another link under “I know about 2005”. Therein you will find a letter from Ieuan Wyn Jones as Deputy First Minister.
Diolch.
2005 was a couple of years before the period of One Wales government.
Didn’t have the vision or skills. Then again, you could say that for every department of the last 25 years…
At least you agree that devolution works, if you’re criticising this failure to devolve.
It doesn’t work and hasn’t worked. That’s not say it can’t…
If it doesn’t work why are you criticising this failure to devolve?
I think you’ve confused yourself.
Are you a supporter of devolving rail or not? Feel free to clear up the confusion.
More to the point, are those likely to be in charge next May supportive? I think we can guess where Reform might be at; but I’m not entirely convinced by others. There is a huge difference between making by and large comments in opposition and actually doing a deal when in government (as we have seen with UK Labour).
Indeed but the point mustn’t be lost that the state of the railways in Wales puts to bed any argument that things would be better with Whitehall in charge. The only debate on the table is whether the current arrangement can be made to work better with someone else in charge or if devomax is needed to deliver real economic improvements.
I understand that it was the fear that the Welsh government could be inundated with huge bills for rail infrastructure maintenance, along the North Wales coast for example, which dissuaded Cardiff Bay from accepting full devolution.
As has been said, it seemed a good idea at the time.
Another good reason to fully understand why. It could be that the same position applies today; but that the extra funding would probably more than offset the cost? This is the problem with superficial comments from politicians. Same story with the Barnett formula and the Crown Estate.
I don’t know about you, but I am fed up to the back teeth with the treatment we get from Westminster. Independence is the only way we can ever be freed from the yoke of the disdainful English establishment.
If our elected leaders don’t kick up hell of a stink over this then they deserve everything they get come the May elections . What are we , second class citizens of the UK , a mere afterthought or an insignificant people who don’t really matter and be grateful for what we get ? WELL WE DO MATTER AND THEY CAN ALL GO AND DO ONE !
Just a thought, let’s call the crown estate a WALES ONLY PROJECT and keep the money ourselves.
Labour in Welsh Government, Labour in Westminster. Where is the untold benefits we are meant to be reaping for having such loyalty to a party that continues to take us for granted? Eluned Morgan and the rest of the Labour politicians are nothing more than Kiers puppets.
Manifestly, improved rail services between Liverpool via Manchester to places across the Pennines further east in England have at best very marginal relevance for Wales. I was initially quite supportive of the election of the Labour government in Westminster last year, given the utterly disastrously squalid record of the Johnson and Truss administrations which preceded it. But I’m disillusioned by rather a lot of Labour’s policy decisions since it came into office, and especially by the dismissive attitude which it has repeatedly exhibited towards Wales. Though I suppose I should factor in how much worse an essentially English nationalist Reform… Read more »
Ironically Reform might be very good for Wales for 2 reasons.
Showing Welsh voters are on the market and not just Labour. Other parties may up their game.
Or dismantling the UK and making England independent. Which would mean Wales, Scotland and N.Ireland as well.
Have you seen the film Hunger Games? That’s the UK under Reform.
The service on this line to Yorkshire and the North East would run through from Holyhead and Bangor along the North Wales Main Line joining at Warrington
Point gun at foot. Pull trigger
The old “ready, fire, aim” procedure…
Today 9 December is the 2nd Reading at Westminster of the UK GB Railways Bill…. the Bill is not good for Wales and does not address our major issues: lack of control AND lack of funding >>> GB Rail Bill: for Wales, see England! – Mark Barry’s blog site
Wales chose not to be involved with the track , The Senedd , taking all the wrong decisions .
It was the Labour administration at the time that made the wrong decision rather than the Senedd.
Ken Skates go and chain yourself to the gates of Downing Street…
Catch the fast train from Wrecsam to Hull via Liverpool, Ken all that pushing East is hardly doing the rest of us any favours. Somebody in Downing St has it in for Cymru, constantly short changed, always on a promise but left standing at the altar, sabotaged by all and sundry, friend and foe, a place for professionals and consultants to gorge…an egalitarian society…?
Wales does deserve more funding and we do need a new system. But in part because people don’t understand the current one. Arguments about so called ‘designations’ are a complete red herring that opposition parties (including Labour before the 24 election) exploit largely at their convenience. Ultimately it’s a just a label which is perfectly accurate to the extent that the type of project covered is a matter that is largely devolved to Scotland and so is not included, as opposed to Wales where most rail infrastructure is still mostly a reserved matter. It isn’t a view about who benefits… Read more »
This would be true if Wales got the equivalent funding through the England & Wales model but sadly it does not. The figure quoted by Westminster is over 10 years and less than 10% of the fair funding Wales should receive.
Cymru needs to leave this absolute joke of a so called Union if it ever wishes to progress. The thing is bankrupt anyway and England has so many problems it’s basically a failed state on the brink of civil war. The youngsters are leading the way they can see what mess the current status quo has made of their future and they want out.
The fact that the London – Birmingham (HS2),
the Oxford – Cambridge and, now, the Liverpool – Hull new railways being constructed are classified as England and Wales is an absolute outrage and a gross insult to one’s intelligence. This prevents Wales getting Barnett (financial) consequentials from them unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland – blatant discrimination against Wales. Its a total disgrace that Wales’ Labour government and Welsh MPs are not playing holy hell about it.
A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “This classification does not change the funding Wales gets. We’re directly investing £445 million to modernise Welsh rail and deliver new stations, faster journeys, and better connections across North and South Wales, including £77.8 million for major upgrades at Cardiff Central.”
That isn’t really dealing with the question at all as the funding has already been agreed! What we want are the consequentials for the additional funding for Liverpool to Hull!