Government Cancels Barnett Formula Debate

In a letter to Roger Williams MP, Liam Byrne - Chief Secretary to the Treasury - has reiterated that the Government has no plans to change the Barnett Formula.

Wales is well funded. Identifiable public spending per head in Wales is 14% above England and in the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, the Welsh Assembly Government received an annual average real terms increase of 2.4% compared to the UK average of 2.1%... The Government has no plans to change the Barnett formula.

And not only that. The Government also has no time to debate it and has cancelled the Lords debate on the Barnett Formula.

A Lords debate on the Barnett formula, the controversial Government funding mechanism for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, was unexpectedly cancelled due to a shortage of parliamentary time.

How convenient.