Devolved finance ministers write to new chancellor

The finance ministers of the UK's devolved governments have written to the new chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, to highlight what they believe are areas that should receive attention ahead of the next budget.

Rebecca Evans MS, Minister for Finance and Local Government in the Welsh Government, Kate Forbes MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, in the Scottish Government and Conor Murphy MLA, Minister of Finance in the Northern Ireland Executive have published a joint letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi, which begins by welcoming him to the role.

Citing the current economic situation, the letter sets out key areas which the ministers believe require attention as part of the preparations for the forthcoming UK budget.

The first highlighted area is the cost-of-living crisis. The letter says that the devolved governments are doing all they can to help households with the cost-of-living crisis, however "many of the levers which can make the biggest difference sit with the UK government". The authors call for further action to to address significant gaps in support for vulnerable households, families, businesses and the delivery of services and for more concerted steps to ensure more sustainable energy prices in the longer term. The authors urge the chancellor to provide targeted support to those most affected, rather than reducing broad-based taxes. There is also a plea for tax cuts not to impact spending on delivery of public services which are already facing immense pressures.

The second area of concern is public sector pay, with a call to treat the public sector workforce fairly. The authors call for a fair and appropriate response on public sector pay with firm assurances for sensible pay uplifts.

Finally, the letter mentions spending pressures. The authors claim that the next 3 years' worth of budgets are now worth considerably less than when they were written a year ago, citing the public pay bill and rising public energy costs alongside other pressures such as education and enabling NHS recovery and reform. The letter calls for uplifted budgets and boosted funding for the NHS.

The letter was also sent to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Scotland, the Secretary of State for Wales and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

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