Independent review will provide bullets to bin Barnett

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 18th Jun 2007

Welsh Liberal Democrats will use their first debate in the new Assembly to take the first steps towards Wales getting a fair deal when it comes to UK government funding.

Since 1979, Wales has received an annual grant from Westminster calculated using the Barnett Formula. This was introduced as a temporary measure, based on population rather than need, and is widely believed to disadvantage Wales.

Speaking ahead of the debate on Wednesday Mike German, Assembly leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats said: "My party has long campaigned against the unfair Barnett Formula. It takes no account of Wales' needs, and is woefully out of date.

"Because changing the formula is difficult, successive Labour and Conservative Governments have shied away from it. They have stuck with the status quo, despite the growing acknowledgement that it is unfair.

"I believe a formula based on need, would give Wales a better deal. Every year, at present, Wales could be losing out. This is the single most important issue facing Wales in the short term. We could be being short changed every year, and we urgently need to end this unfairness.

"I want to build a consensus in Wales, and the other nations and regions of the UK, that we need a change. To do that we have to have the facts - that's why we need an independent commission to give us those facts."

Finance spokesperson Jenny Randerson AM added: "The biggest problem in winning the argument over Barnett is the general lack of evidence. Labour Ministers in Wales have avoided making a strong case to London, out of a misplaced fear that Wales would lose out.

"That's why we need an independent commission - along the lines of the Richard Commission - with representatives of all the political parties and wider society to look at alternatives and provide hard hitting evidence.

"Every part of the UK deserves better than a temporary formula which is rapidly approaching its 30th anniversary. It's time for a fair deal."