Source · Select Committees · Welsh Affairs Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Acknowledged
Ensure baselining of agricultural funding does not lead to real-terms decline for Wales.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Treasury and Wales Office work collaboratively with the Welsh Government to ensure that the baselining of agricultural funding into the Welsh Government’s block grant, alongside the application of the Barnett Formula to future allocations, does not lead to a real- terms decline in funding for Welsh agriculture. It is vital that this does not become a mechanism through which agricultural funding for Wales is gradually reduced, relocated or deprioritised in future spending decisions. (Recommendation, Paragraph 69) Trade
Government Response Summary
The government states that agriculture and fisheries funding will be added to devolved governments’ baseline funding from 2025-26, maintained in cash terms, and no longer ringfenced, with the Welsh Government responsible for spending decisions. It does not commit to preventing a real-terms decline.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Agriculture and fisheries funding from 2024–25 has been added to the devolved governments’ baseline funding from 2025–26, meaning the funding amount will be maintained in cash terms. Funding is no longer ringfenced and the devolved governments can choose how to spend this in devolved areas. In Wales, the Welsh Government will be responsible for decisions on how to use the funding and are accountable to the Senedd for those decisions. In future, the Barnett formula will apply in the normal way to agriculture and fisheries funding provided to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in England.