Row over £30m for Ukraine taken from Welsh government funds

Money normally used to fund services like the Welsh NHS and education is part of the £1bn the UK is sending to Ukraine for military aid.

It is thought £30m will come from the Welsh government's budget, sparking a row with ministers in Cardiff.

Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said Cardiff ministers were committed to supporting Ukraine.

But she said it is "not right" that money should come from the budget for Welsh public services.

Her colleague Jeremy Miles said they had agreed to the spending, but said they were told by the Treasury that their budget would be cut and there was "no consultation".

A Wales Office minister said the UK government is "not going to do anything to undermine devolution".

Some £65m for Ukraine will come from Scottish government budgets.

Speaking at the NATO summit, Boris Johnson said: "UK weapons, equipment and training are transforming Ukraine's defences against this onslaught. And we will continue to stand squarely behind the Ukrainian people to ensure Putin fails in Ukraine."

The UK's military support for Ukraine is in addition to the £1.5bn of humanitarian and economic support provided to the country since February.

The Welsh government's Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said it was "right the UK should continue to provide much-needed military support and we will continue to provide humanitarian support to the many people from Ukraine who arrive in Wales every day".

But she added: "What is not right is using money that should be for investment in devolved areas, like health and education, to fund a non-devolved spending area - military aid and defence.

"We have accepted this outcome because of our ongoing commitment to support Ukrainian people and to avoid future budgetary uncertainty, but funding for these areas should rightly be met by the UK government."

Devolved areas are parts of government policy which are controlled by ministers in the Welsh government, and where laws for them are made in the Senedd.

The armed forces and foreign aid are not devolved.

On Radio Wales Breakfast Education Minister Jeremy Miles said ministers in Cardiff "were told by the UK Treasury the budget would be cut".

"There wasn't any consultation," he said.

"Given the exceptional circumstances, we've agreed to this as we want to support the people of Ukraine," he said, adding Rebecca Evans was "looking with UK government ministers at how some of the impact could be mitigated".

He hoped the UK government would agree to an increase in Welsh borrowing borrowing powers, which have not changed for "five or six years".

Ministers in Cardiff, he said, "are keen and do everything we can to be constructive partners with the UK government, in the range of ways in which we need to work together".

"That is not always reciprocated. We saw this week, for example, the UK government proposing to repeal laws that the Senedd passed, without even notifying Welsh government".

Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said ministers in Scotland "agreed to providing funding on this occasion given the clear need to maximise the international effort to support Ukraine".

However she added that "this must not be seen as any kind of precedent which leads to devolved budgets being used to help pay for clearly reserved policy areas".

Wales Office minister David TC Davies said the "British government has given incredible support to Ukraine".

"At the end of the day, the parliamentary government is not going to do anything to undermine devolution," he said.