£130m funding boost for infrastructure projects across ‘whole of Wales’

Ministers will today inject a further £130m of funding in key capital projects, that they say ‘underlines 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 £85m was announced to help support Wales through what Wlesh Government described as the “cloud of Brexit uncertainty”.

The First Minister will be holding a press conference at 11:30am to outline the “major funding for infrastructure projects across the whole of Wales”, with extra detail than what has been released by Welsh Government this morning.

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

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

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.

At the time of publishing there is no detail of what cash the area, or what related infrastructure projects will be getting a boost, but we will update later today.