Plaid accuses Reform of backing funding system that leaves Wales ‘high and dry’

Emily Price

Plaid Cymru has accused Reform UK’s group in the Senedd of defending a funding system that leaves Wales “high and dry”.

The party was responding to comments from Reform’s shadow finance minister in the Senedd Cai Parry- Jones, who accused Plaid of spreading “misinformation” over Wales’ financial position within the UK.

Plaid Cymru Caerdydd Ffynon Tâf MS Nick Carter said Parry-Jones should “spend more time advising his own party on financial matters after their track record of six-figure dodgy donations and Russian bribes” before trying to tell the people of Wales “to settle for less than we’re owed.”

He warned that the UK Government “shortchanges Wales to the tune of billions of pounds just from railway projects” and “extracts millions from natural resources away from our communities”.

It came after Parry-Jones posted a video to Facebook in which he hit out at Plaid’s plans to replace the Barnett Formula with a needs-based funding system and devolve control of the Crown Estate and rail to Wales. 

Using a whiteboard to break down the potential financial impact, Parry-Jones argued that changing Wales’ funding system would come at a significant cost to the Welsh Government.

Citing an Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report, the Reform MS claimed a move from the Barnett formula to a needs-based formula would cost Wales £1.5bn a year.

The Barnett formula is an automatic mechanism used by the UK Treasury to calculate the block grants for Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland based on changes in public spending in England.

Plaid wants to replace the Barnett formula because the party believes it locks in a system of “historic underfunding” that fails to account for Wales’s unique socio-economic challenges.

However, the impact of a new funding system would depend on how it was designed.

Wales already receives more funding per head than England for comparable services, reflecting the greater costs and needs involved in providing public services in Wales.

The relative-need estimates cited by Parry-Jones in his video appeared to based on data that is nearly two decades old and may not fully reflect Wales’ current levels of deprivation, health needs or its ageing population.

On the Crown Estate, Parry-Jones said Welsh Government estimates suggested devolving it would add less than £20m to Wales’ budget.

The Crown Estate is a huge collection of assets owned by the British monarchy, which includes vast swathes of urban, coastal and maritime land worth £16 billion.

It is run as a business, independent of government, but its profits are delivered to the UK Treasury each year.

An annual payment is also made to the monarch in the form of the Sovereign Grant, currently set at 12% of the total.

Plaid wants to devolve the Crown Estate in Wales so that the wealth and profits generated from Welsh natural resources stay in Wales instead of going to the UK Treasury.

In 2023–24, Scotland benefited by £113 million in revenue from its devolved Crown Estate.

In contrast, the Crown Estate in Wales remains reserved to Westminster, and the Welsh Government receives no such direct benefit.

According to the Crown Estate’s Annual Wales Review, assets in Wales were valued at £290 million for the 2025/26 financial year.

However, the value of Wales’ Crown Estate is expected to increase significantly in the coming years as offshore wind development expands in the Celtic Sea, with major projects planned off the Pembrokeshire coast.

The Crown Estate receives payments from developers for access to the seabed and once new projects are operational will charge rent linked to their revenues.

Parry-Jones also claimed that devolving rail would only bring the Welsh Government around £70m a year, adding that this figure was linked to HS2 funding and would be expected to fall once the project was completed.

Plaid Cymru wants to devolve full control of rail infrastructure and funding to Wales to fix what the party has described as “historic underfunding” and improve poor train services.

The party’s core argument for the devolution of rail is that Wales is owed billions for England-only mega-projects like HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail.

Taking his figures together, Parry-Jones calculated that Plaid’s proposed changes would leave the Welsh Government around £1.41bn a year worse off.

The Reform MS said this would be equivalent to a 50 per cent increase in council tax across Wales.

“Plaid Cymru peddle the narrative that Wales currently is being financially disadvantaged within the United Kingdom, the reality is very different,” he said.

Plaid Cymru disputed the shadow finance minister’s assessment and argued that Wales is being denied significant sums through the current UK funding arrangements, particularly in relation to rail and natural resources.

Plaid Cymru MS for Caerdydd Ffynon Tâf, Nick Carter, said: “Westminster shortchanges Wales to the tune of billions of pounds just from railway projects, and extracts millions from natural resources away from our communities. Yet Reform UK still argues that Wales should know its place and sit down and be quiet when Westminster leaves us high and dry.

“Reform UK is proving yet again that Plaid Cymru is the only party that is willing to stand up to Westminster, and prioritise the people and communities of Wales, not London bosses. We’re the only party that will always fight for what Wales is owed.

“Maybe the Reform MS should spend more time advising his own party on financial matters after their track record of six-figure dodgy donations and Russian bribes, before trying to tell the people of Wales to settle for less than we’re owed.”

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