Extra £1.2bn for Wales not confirmed, minister says

Details of an extra £1.2bn for Wales' public services have not been confirmed by the UK government, Health Secretary Vaughan Gething has said.

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns made the promise of extra cash after Prime Minister Theresa May announced £20bn a year for the NHS in England by 2023.

Mr Gething said the Welsh Government has seen nothing but Mr Cairns's press release.

Mrs May said details of the funding would be set out in due course.

On Monday the prime minister said taxes will have to be increased to pay for the extra funding.

Mr Gething said the Welsh Government would "welcome any additional resources for public services after eight years of unprecedented austerity."

He said ministers would consider how and where to spend the money when it gets the details.

Mr Gething said: "Despite the press release that's come out we haven't had any confirmed details on what we'll receive this year, next year, or the year after, so we simply can't plan on the basis of an Alun Cairns press release.

"But I'm committed to make the best use of that money, and to do so with my colleagues in the Welsh Government. So we'll have a conversation and make a decision.

"But first of all we need clarity and details on what UK government have been saying to the press over weekend."

The extra cash is coming to Wales under the rules of the Barnett formula - and it is up to Welsh Government ministers to decide how to spend it.

The UK government has called for the extra £1.2bn annually - which would be in place by 2023 - to be spent on the health service in Wales.

Speaking on Monday, the prime minister said: "While it is up to the devolved administrations to spend the money as they see fit, I believe everyone in the UK should benefit from this extra funding for the NHS".

"I urge the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales to use this money to improve the NHS - and to develop their own long-term plans for NHS Scotland and NHS Wales.

"This way, the vision I have set out today can benefit the whole United Kingdom."

She said details of the funding package would be set out by the chancellor Philip Hammond in "due course".