Wales demands £1bn rail funding boost in Budget ‘moment of truth’

Mark Mansfield

The Welsh Government has urged the Chancellor to bring forward £1 billion of promised rail investment in a Budget it describes as a “moment of truth” for Wales.

Cabinet Minister for Finance Elin Jones called on John Healey to reverse real-terms cuts to Welsh budgets, provide targeted help with energy bills and end the freeze on housing support.

Her intervention comes as the Chancellor prepares to deliver his first Budget on Wednesday, promising households and businesses “breathing space” from everyday costs alongside longer-term action to reduce energy bills.

Ms Jones said Wales had been “short-changed” for years and needed immediate investment rather than further promises.

She said just 1% of Network Rail’s spending across England and Wales came to Wales.

“That is not a fair deal, it’s not even close,” she said.

“The UK Government has promised £14 billion to put right decades of underfunding. We are urging for £1 billion of that to be brought forward now, so people in Wales see real improvements, not more promises delayed to further down the tracks.”

The Finance Minister also demanded changes to the Welsh Government’s funding settlement and backing for energy and infrastructure schemes.

“Real-terms cuts to our day-to-day and capital budgets are holding us back. We need those cuts reversed now, and we need the UK Government to back the energy and infrastructure projects that will secure our future,” she said.

Housing costs are another priority in the Welsh Government’s demands, with Ms Jones warning that the freeze on Local Housing Allowance was increasing the risk of homelessness as rents rose.

She also called for targeted support to protect the most vulnerable households from energy costs.

“People are struggling with the cost of living. Targeted support for the most vulnerable households, especially with energy costs, isn’t optional, it’s essential,” she said.

“Freezing the Local Housing Allowance while rents rise is also pushing people towards homelessness. That has to end.”

Mr Healey has indicated that measures to ease household costs will feature prominently in his statement.

According to the Press Association, he is expected to cancel January’s planned fuel duty increase, keeping the levy frozen at 52p per litre for a 16th year.

He is also expected to end the Carers’ Allowance cliff edge, which has penalised unpaid carers who exceed the earnings limit, sometimes by only a few pence.

Standing charges

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has asked the Chancellor and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to examine removing standing charges from gas bills and breaking the link between wholesale gas prices and electricity bills.

Mr Healey said the Budget would provide immediate help while starting longer-term work to bring energy costs down.

However, stretched public finances, compounded by market turmoil linked to the Iran war, are expected to limit major giveaways.

The Chancellor has committed to retaining Labour’s fiscal rules, requiring day-to-day spending to be financed through taxes rather than borrowing by 2029/30, and public debt to fall as a share of the economy in the same year.

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