The people of Wales lost out on £155.5million of public funding because of First Minister Mark Drakeford’s Government's “poor account management”, according to a report by the Senedd committee.
Published today (Monday) by the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, it claims “significant funding was lost to Wales” as a result of an underspend by the Welsh Government in 2020-21. This figure reached is the difference between the balance of the Wales Reserve on April 1 2021 (£505.5million) and the Wales Reserve’s limit (£350million).
The Welsh Government said the Chief Secretary to the Treasury had rejected its request to carry forward funds in excess of the Wales Reserve limit, according to the committee. As a measure of fiscal devolution, the Wales Reserve was established for the Welsh Government to deposit any resource or capital funds, which can be drawn down to fund future spending.
