By Lynsey Bews

FINANCE ministers from the UK’s devolved administrations have called for greater clarity from the Treasury over its plans to manage the economy as Brexit approaches.

The ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland highlighted a number of key finance issues in a joint letter to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke.

They said there is a need for the UK Government to “engage meaningfully” with the devolved nations on the economic and financial implications of leaving the European Union, stressing its plans to exit the single market and customs union have caused “significant concern”.

The ministers also pressed Mr Gauke on the potential impact of cuts to public spending in 2019/20.

“We seek reassurances that you will not pass on further austerity and make additional budget cuts on top of the real-terms reductions in spending power that the devolved administrations are already facing,” they wrote.

In the letter, the ministers also called for the UK Government to announce the Budget earlier in the autumn to allow greater time for devolved administrations to consider the impact on their own budgets well in advance of the start of the financial year.

Last year Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the next Budget, on March 8, will be the last to take place in spring.

This means that there will be two Budgets this year with the second one taking place towards the end of 2017.

There will be no Budget in March 2018, but a smaller form of financial statement will take its place with the Budget being held later in the year.

Scotland’s Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said: “It is clear that the Scottish and UK economies are facing challenging economic circumstances.

“There is a greater need than ever for the UK Government to engage meaningfully with the devolved administrations on the emerging economic and financial implications of the Brexit vote.”

He added: “We would welcome a commitment to engage with us in developing the approach to the new budget timetable and ensuring that steps are taken to support rather than undermine devolved budget processes.”

The Welsh Government’s Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford said: “The possible impact of the £3.5 billion of cuts the UK Government have planned for 2019/20 could generate critical cuts to all our budgets. By speaking with one voice, we hope the UK Government can provide clarity on how it intends to find these savings and the resulting impact on our Budget.”

Stormont Finance Minister Mairtin O Muilleoir said the “austerity agenda already places severe burdens on devolved budgets and further cuts in 2019/20 would be unacceptable”.

A Treasury spokesman said: “The Treasury works closely with the administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and our Ministers meet regularly.

“The Autumn Statement announced that the devolved administrations would receive significant increases in their capital budgets that will help support economic growth across the UK.

“We have paved the way for new tax powers for the Scottish and Welsh governments and are continuing to work towards the devolution of corporation tax in Northern Ireland.”

Prime Minister Theresa May has said she is “extremely confident” that she will invoke Article 50, signalling the start of the two year run in to Britain leaving the EU by the end of March.

In a speech on Tuesday, Prime Minister Theresa May set out her key objectives for EU withdrawal.

She said Britain will leave the European single market but will seek a “bold and ambitious” free trade agreement to allow it to continue trading with its 27 former partners.

Mrs May confirmed that she wants to take Britain out of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and restore control over immigration.