Welsh Conservatives have today welcomed the Chancellor’s Budget which includes the largest block grant for Wales since the start of devolution.

This afternoon, Rishi Sunak announced an extra £2.5 billion per year on average for the Welsh Government through the Barnett formula over the Spending Review period, on top of its annual baseline funding of £15.9 billion.

Welsh Conservative MS and Shadow Finance Minister, Peter Fox, said the UK Government Budget provides the foundations for a stronger economy in Wales as the country continues its recovery from the pandemic.

He added that the financial injection and various other announcements provide Labour ministers with the tools “to get on with the job and kickstart the Welsh economy, tackle the NHS crisis, and deliver a better future for our children.”

The Chancellor also announced £121 million will be delivered for ten projects through the first tranche of the Conservative Government’s £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund – including £10.9 million to regenerate the Old College and Marina in Aberystwyth, £3.6 million to build the Porth Transport Hub, and £17.7 million to transform the 900-year-old Haverfordwest Castle into an all-weather attraction.

Three projects will also receive a combined £464,000 of funding through the new Community Ownership Fund, helping to protect valued community assets. This includes £250,000 for the Ty’n Llan pub in Llandwrog; £124,258 for the CANA Resource and Training Centre in Pen-y-Waun; and £90,000 total funding for the Queen’s Ballroom in Tredegar.

The Budget also provided the Welsh Government with £0.9 billion for farmers and land managers and £6.2 million to support fisheries over the Spending Review. The government has extended the recommendations of the Bew Review so that additional funding will continue to be provided to farmers in Wales over the next three years.

Wales will also benefit from a share of the £2.6 billion UK Shared Prosperity Fund – focused on helping people into jobs and supporting businesses across the UK – the new £1.4 billion Global Britain Investment Fund, and £5 billion for Project Gigabit, rolling out gigabit capable broadband for homes and businesses across the UK.

Other nationwide measures that will benefit people in Wales include a significant tax cut for low-income families by reducing the Universal Credit taper rate from 63 per cent to 55 per cent, a 6.6 per cent increase in the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour – giving a £1,000 pay rise to 2 million of the lowest paid – increasing pay for public sector workers, and freezes in fuel and alcohol duty.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Finance Minister, Peter Fox MS said: “Despite the unprecedented challenges caused by the pandemic, this Conservative UK Government is getting on with the job and delivering on the priorities of people in Wales.

“This is a Budget which invests in a more innovative, high-skill economy, delivers world-class public services, backs business, helps working families with the cost of living. It has the potential to fast track the Welsh economic recovery.

“Rishi Sunak has delivered the biggest ever block grant to Wales, one that can level up our country if ministers in Cardiff Bay finally step up to the plate and deliver policies to improve our economy and public services, which have been held back by successive Labour administrations.

“Labour’s playbook of excuses has run out and it’s time they used the tools at their disposal to get on with the job and kickstart the Welsh economy, tackle the NHS crisis, and deliver a better future for our children, rather than their constant obsession with powers and the constitution.”Welsh Finance Minister Rebecca Evans has said the UK Government’s Spending Review and autumn Budget contains “clear gaps in funding” where Westminster has failed to invest in Wales.The Spending Review announced by the Chancellor on today contained no new investment for Coal Tip remediation or significant additional funding to support rail infrastructure in Wales – priorities highlighted by the Welsh Government as critical in the months leading up to the budget.The Welsh Government stressed that its own focus now was now on delivering a Welsh Government Budget in December that builds a stronger, greener, fairer Wales.The UK Government’s Spending Review sets out its spending plans until 2024/25. On 20 December the Welsh Government will publish its Budget outlining its own spending plans over that period.Rebecca Evans, the Welsh Government’s Finance Minister, said: “This UK Government Spending Review hasn’t delivered for Wales. Vital funding priorities, such as the long-term remediation of coal tips and greater funding in rail infrastructure, have been ignored.“While the Spending Review does give us some medium term financial certainty and some additional investment, it is more than offset by the inflationary and system pressures that we are facing. The budget fails to meet the scale of the challenge that families, public services and the wider economy are still facing as a result of the pandemic.“The fact remains that there are clear gaps in funding where the UK Government should be investing in Wales and it has chosen not to. Arrangements for replacing EU Structural Funds remain unclear but what we do know is it falls well short of the £375m we were receiving – these are funds that support skills, businesses and decarbonisation. HS2 is expected to have a negative impact of £150m per year on the Welsh economy, while the failure to back a long-term solution for Wales’ coal tips could create an additional financial pressure of at least £60m per year.“The limited measures announced by the Chancellor to help households grappling with the increase in the cost of living don’t go nearly far enough. Further steps should be taken to target support to lower income families struggling as a result of the cut to Universal Credit, the future increase in National Insurance contributions, and spiralling energy prices.“While there can be no doubt that we have been left with some difficult choices I am determined to deliver a Budget that builds a stronger, greener, fairer Wales - helping public services and our economy recover from the pandemic, and moving us closer towards being a zero-carbon nation.”In the run-up to the Spending Review the Welsh Government had strongly made the case for investment from the UK Government in coal tip safety to tackle the impacts of climate change and support remediation in coal mining communities.Ahead of yesterday’s Coal Tip Safety Summit the First Minister stressed that Wales’ funding settlement doesn’t recognise the substantial, long-term costs involved in an issue that pre-dates devolution.The Finance Minister commented: “Throughout this process we have been absolutely clear about the need for a package of investment to remediate coal tips. This funding has not come and I’m deeply disappointed the UK Government has turned it back on communities whose efforts created huge wealth for the UK and who deserve so much better from the UK Government.”