Wales needs funding revamp from Westminster

The Welsh Labour conference has called for UK party colleagues to give Wales control of the Crown Estate and revamp how the country is funded.

Party delegates supported calls for the Welsh government to get “every penny it is due” so it can boost education and health services.

A council leader told the conference that the party could win next year’s Senedd election if it reformed Wales’ funding system.

The UK government has so far rejected calls for Wales to be given control of the Crown Estate – which includes £603m worth of land and 65% of the seabed around the coast.

First Minister Eluned Morgan made the case for the devolution of the estate – and a reform to funding – in her Red Welsh Way speech in May.

She demanded Wales benefit more from offshore wind farms built on the estate’s seabed.

“We saw them take our coal, we saw them take our water. We will not let them take our wind, not this time, not on my watch,” she said.

The UK government argued that devolving the Crown Estate would not make commercial sense.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens, said it would put the potential for floating off shore wind “at risk”.

Scotland receives cash from Crown Estate projects, although funding for the Scottish government is adjusted as a result.

A separate issue is the system for how Wales is funded. The UK nations, other than England, are all funded through what’s known as the Barnett formula, which is largely based on population.

Critics believe it underfunds Wales and that it should be determined by what the country needs. The UK government has no plans to review it.

At the Welsh Labour conference, Unison proposed a motion calling for the Welsh government to negotiate a funding formula “based on fairness and an assessment of needs”.

It called for negotiations “to make such organisational arrangements that it can allow the Crown Estate to be devolved to Wales”.

“Our socialist beliefs are what drives us to deliver a better quality of life for everyone in Wales whether that is through decent housing, improvements in education, better career prospects and positive health outcomes.

“But this is only achievable if Welsh government receives every penny it is due.”

In a debate, Huw Thomas, Cardiff’s council leader who is hoping to be a candidate for 2026 Senedd election, said: “Labour is the party of devolution but that requires us now to reform how we are funded to ensure that Wales receives an equitable share and the powers that we need.”

He also called for power to be devolved beyond the Senedd.

“That’s how we show that we are better than Reform and Plaid and that’s… how we will win in 2026.”

The motion was passed on Saturday afternoon through a show of hands.