No court action to seek HS2 Wales cash

Welsh ministers have confirmed that they will not go to court to seek billions of pounds extra to spend off the back of high speed rail investment in England.

Last year the then first minister, Mark Drakeford, said legal action was being considered over his government not receiving additional cash due to spending on HS2 in England.

But the Welsh government's top legal adviser, the Counsel General Mick Antoniw has said a challenge is "unlikely to succeed".

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said that was "tantamount to waving the white flag".

The HS2 project was designated an "England and Wales" scheme by the UK Treasury.

That means it did not trigger the mechanism that would usually send money to the Welsh government, when UK government spends money on projects in England that Cardiff ministers have powers over in Wales.

That mechanism is known as the Barnett formula.

In October the prime minister announced the cancellation of the parts of HS2 linking England's West Midlands to Manchester and the East Midlands.

Rishi Sunak also unveiled a plan to electrify the north Wales rail mainline, using £1bn previously earmarked for HS2.

What remains of HS2 is the London to Birmingham stretch, estimated to cost as much as £66.6bn, according to the project's executive chairman.

There have been cross-party calls for that first leg of the project to be reclassified so Wales can benefit from "consequential" funds.

Plaid Cymru says it could be worth as much as £4bn.

But Mr Antoniw has confirmed that going to court to try to secure such funding for Wales is not going to happen.

"Further consideration has been given and it has been concluded that the wide discretion the Treasury has would make any challenge unlikely to succeed," he said, in a written answer to Mr ap Iorwerth.

'Silent treatment'

Plaid Cymru's leader called the reply a "worrying signal of things to come, should Keir Starmer become the next prime minister, and giving Wales the silent treatment on HS2 speaks volumes about Labour’s attitude to fair funding".

“The absence of resolve shown by the counsel general is tantamount to waving the white flag," he said.

Mr ap Iorwerth urged the new Labour First Minister, Vaughan Gething, to "reconsider" the decision to "let the UK government off the hook”.

The UK government has previously said that it is responsible for "heavy rail investment across England and Wales, so spends money in Wales rather than funding the Welsh government to do so".

UK ministers have said the Barnett formula will apply as they focus on "local transport alternatives" to HS2 in England, meaning there will then be knock-on funding for the Welsh government.

A Welsh government spokesperson said: “There are several considerations when taking legal action or raising a dispute, including the likely success of any litigation and ensuring good use of public money.”