Andy Burnham rules out reform of Wales funding system

Andy Burnham has no intention of reforming the main way the Welsh government is funded if he becomes prime minister, BBC Wales has been told.

The new Labour MP is expected to make a speech about devolution and the economy next week, with a spokesperson saying he would put Wales and Scotland “at the centre” of any government he runs.

Comments by Burnham in a book two years ago – in which he said it was time to “tear up” current funding arrangements – have resurfaced this week in The National newspaper.

It led to Plaid Cymru, which has long argued for an overhaul, vowing to “hold him” to his words, but reform now appears to have been ruled out.

The party’s leader in the Commons, Liz Saville-Roberts, said: “In his book Andy Burnham called for a ‘new arrangement that is demonstrably fair to all’. We will hold him to that.

“Any reform he makes to bring about fairer funding for northern English regions must also address the longstanding underfunding of Wales.”

But Plaid’s hopes appear to have been dashed even before Burnham has entered Downing Street.

BBC Wales has been told that the plans would not include changes to the Barnett formula for Wales and Scotland.

His spokesperson said: “Andy has spent his whole political career fighting for the nations and regions of the United Kingdom – he will put Wales at the centre of any government he runs, radically pushing power down and out of Westminster and Whitehall.”

The Plaid Cymru Welsh government has been asked to comment.

Additional UK government funding for Wales is calculated using the Barnett Formula.

It determines the amount of cash the Welsh government receives, based mainly on share of population.

Critics have long argued that it underfunds Wales, despite Wales receiving more funding per head than England, because the Welsh population is relatively older and more infirm.

An overhaul of the funding formula is also backed by Welsh Labour.

Less than a year ago the Welsh Labour conference passed a motion calling for reform, a call that was rejected two months later by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

A major assessment of Wales’ needs was last carried out by the economist Gerry Holtham in 2010.