Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord De Mauley on the Barnett Formula on 15 June (HL Deb, cols. 869–70) that Wales received £208 million from the European Union structural funds in 2009–10, whether this money is subject to matching funds from the United Kingdom; and, if so, whether those funds form part of the Barnett formula.
Answer
European Structural Funds are devolved. It is, therefore, a matter for the Welsh Government. The public spending element of any match funding is funded within the Welsh Government’s existing budget.