MORE than £400 million will be made available to the coronavirus vaccine rollout in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The  £430 million of additional funding from the UK Reserve will be made available to the devolved administrations to provide greater certainty and allow them to plan as they tackle Covid-19 during the crucial weeks ahead.

The amounts being provided to each government are: 

  • Scottish Government - £220 million 
  • Welsh Government - £135 million 
  • Northern Ireland Executive - £75 million 

These amounts will be kept under review in the coming weeks. 

These are confirmed additional amounts on top of the funding set out at the Autumn Budget 2021, relating to health pressures and the Covid-19 Additional Relief Funding.

The UK Government has already provided the devolved administrations with an extra £12.6 billion through the Barnett formula this year – this includes £1.3 billion confirmed at the recent Autumn Budget, which took their total funding this year to £77.6 billion.

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This is on top of UK Government spending on vaccines and tests for the whole of the UK and UK-wide support for businesses and jobs.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “Throughout this pandemic, the United Kingdom has stood together as one family, and we will continue to do so.

“We are working with the governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to drive the vaccine rollout to all corners of the United Kingdom and ensure people and businesses all across the country are supported.”

Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart said: “This funding announcement provides certainty for the devolved Welsh Government as it looks to plan its pandemic response for the coming weeks.

"It will be followed by a record £18bn a year settlement from the recent Budget so Welsh Government can deliver vital services including health, education and flood protection in the coming years.”

If the amount of funding provided up front to each devolved administration is more than the Barnett consequentials confirmed at Supplementary Estimates then the difference will be repaid in 2022-23, or over the Spending Review period if necessary.

If the Barnett consequentials are higher than the amount provided up front then the devolved administrations will keep the extra funding.