£130 million funding boost for Wales

4 Nov 2019 01:10 PM

Ministers will today inject a further £130 million of funding in key capital projects, underlining confidence in Wales.

This is the second round of capital funding as part of the Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan (WIIP) this year. In June, an extra £85 million was announced to help support Wales through the cloud of Brexit uncertainty.

This latest round includes a further £53 million to support businesses in the face of Brexit and extra investment for future developments, including:

• £30 million to invest in housing schemes, including £10 million for modular factories
• £19 million in active travel and addressing pinch points in our roads
• £20 million for maintenance on schools and colleges 
• £7 million to support our environment, including £4m for National Parks 
• £1 million for a community asset loan fund to help make community facilities sustainable for the future

Together with the planned capital investment next year, we will have invested around £15 billion in infrastructure in Wales since the WIIP was published in 2012, helping businesses and public services plan ahead in these times of unprecedented uncertainty.

First Minister, Mark Drakeford said:

Today’s funding sends out a clear message that as the chaos in Westminster continues the Welsh Government continues to deliver our flagship commitments to protect the interests of Wales and grow our economy.

Finance Minister Rebecca Evans added:

With the shadow of Brexit still looming large, we need to respond to the challenges we are facing while continuing to plan for Wales’ future infrastructure needs. The funding I am announcing today will help us to do just that.

Measures announced now to support our environment are an important step on that journey. However, as we look to set budgets for future years and over the longer term, I am committed to using our available capital to support a greener Wales. I plan to set out further details in the draft Budget on 19 November.

This new immediate funding boost is being announced alongside the publication of the Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan (WIIP) pipeline, which sets out plans for more than £33bn of planned infrastructure investment across a broad range of public and private sector projects.