Welsh Government publish budget to ‘protect the most-valued services’ – opposition brand it ‘soundbites over substance’

The NHS and frontline council-run services, including schools and social care, are at the heart of the 2024-2025 draft Budget, Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said today.

The budget has been published in Senedd recess so there has been no debate in the chamber today, however some lines have been sent over from opposition parties to the document. The publication covers the Welsh Government’s draft budget proposals for 2024-25 as well as setting out strategic and detailed spending plans for revenue and capital, as well as taxation and borrowing.

Presenting the budget Finance Minister, Rebecca Evans, said: “We have had to take some really difficult decisions to radically redesign our spending plans to focus funding on the services which matter most to the people of Wales.

“After 13 years of austerity, a botched Brexit deal, and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, this is the toughest financial situation Wales has faced since the start of devolution. Our funding settlement, which comes largely from the UK government, is not enough to reflect the extreme pressures Wales faces.

“We have been presented with the most stark and painful budget choices in the devolution era. We have reshaped departmental spending plans so that we can invest more in the NHS and protect core local government funding for schools, social care and the other services we rely on every day.

“While the UK government has not provided Wales with a funding settlement that recognises the impact of inflation, we have made changes to our spending plans and targeted investment towards the public services we all value the most.

“The additional funding for the NHS in 2024-2025 comes on top of the additional £425 million which was announced in October for the remainder of this financial year, and which was baselined into the budget for the future. This means that Health will receive more than a 4% increase for 2024-2025, compared to less than 1% in England.

“The core local government settlement, which along with local council tax, funds services including schools, social services and social care, bin collections and local leisure facilities, will also be protected, with a 3.1% increase.

“The draft Budget has been reshaped in line with the Welsh Government’s principles and values, which include protecting core frontline services, wherever possible; delivering the greatest benefit to hardest hit households; and prioritising jobs wherever possible.

“The Welsh Government will continue to provide support to people hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis, including through the Council Tax Reduction Scheme and a £384 million package of support for non-domestic ratepayers, which includes a fifth successive year of relief for retail leisure and hospitality businesses.

“A new £20 million Future Proofing Fund will be introduced in early 2024-2025 for businesses.

The Finance Minister also said the government will be carefully examining whether charges for some services – such as NHS dental care, university tuition fees and domiciliary care – need to be raised to help raise extra funding for public services and higher education, in light of the current budget situation.

Commenting on the Labour Welsh Government’s budget, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies MS said:

“This Labour budget is one of soundbites over substance. Labour ministers have run Wales for 24 years, failing to reform public services and deliver results for the people of Wales; we have record waiting lists in our Welsh NHS, with over 26,000 people waiting two years or more for treatment.

“The Welsh Conservatives would spend every penny the Welsh Government receives for health, on health and deliver a substantial workforce plan to tackle Labour’s excessive waiting lists.

“This budget is as much Plaid Cymru’s as it is Labour’s and are equally to blame for the hardship inflicted by cuts to the rural affairs, education and economy budgets to fund pet projects like blanket 20mph and sending more politicians to Cardiff Bay.

“By cutting the apprenticeships budget and putting forward a less generous offer on business rates than England, Labour and Plaid have shown that they have given up trying to grow the pie. For them, economic growth, opportunity and our young people’s futures are an afterthought.”

Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said: “This budget announcement is sadly the same old deal that leaves Wales standing still and doesn’t move us forward. I welcome the extra funding being provided to both the NHS budget, local government funding.

“However, the fact remains that huge parts of Wales are still being left behind with this budget, in particular rural Wales.

“We need more investment in our rural areas and more support for our farmers.

“Welsh Labour and their Plaid Cymru partners have failed to deliver for the challenges of rural Wales with this budget, leaving our farmers and other small businesses marooned to fend for themselves.

“Whilst it is easy to call out both parties for their failings, the fact remains that the biggest culprits are the very ones who would happily jump on the fallout of this budget.

“Make no mistake, Wales’ economic strife has been caused by a party who many of the Welsh population haven’t voted for and that is the Conservatives.

“We cannot let the Tories shake the narrative to suit them best, we cannot forget the damage that has been done.

“The Conservatives, through all their chaos and mismanagement, have left our country teetering on the brink with an economy that has seen practically zero growth.

“The Welsh Conservatives can make a big song and dance about the faults with this budget, but they should be reminded that it’s their colleagues in Westminster who are responsible for the mess we find ourselves in.

“Intent on worsening their track record when it comes to looking after our nation’s needs, the Tories have once again shown how little they care about Wales and the Welsh public.

“This budget announcement has also confirmed our greatest fears, that there has been little to no money set aside for Wales by a neglectful UK Tory government that has no interest in tidying up the mess they have caused.”

Plaid Cymru Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said that whilst the economic context was a “very tough one”, Wales faced a “double-whammy” of an unfair and inadequate funding settlement and a failure of the current Labour Welsh Government to spend public money effectively, “This budget is unsustainable and will have a serious long-term impact on hard-working people across Wales. There’s no doubt that the context is a very tough one, but Wales faces a double-whammy.

“On one hand, the funding deal we get from the UK Government is unfair and inadequate. That’s true of the present Conservative Government, and there’s no commitment from Labour that they’d put that right either, or pay Wales the £2bn owed from the HS2 rail project.

“On the other hand, serious questions must also be asked of the way Labour spend public money. Their failure to get to grips with running the NHS and our transport system means the inadequate spending power we have goes on sticking plaster solutions rather than fixing problems and building long-term sustainability. Cuts in apprenticeships now are the kind of short-term decisions that we could pay heavily for in years to come.

“We’re disappointed that our request to recall the Senedd today so we could begin to discuss this draft budget and hold the Labour Government to account. Plaid Cymru will do all that we can to scrutinise, challenge and influence the budget where possible over the coming weeks.”

Top pic: The revenue funding. ‘Revenue’ funding is money used to pay people’s wages, to run schools and hospitals, to help businesses and charities that help people, or look after the environment. ‘Capital’ funding is money used to spend on buildings, houses, roads, energy projects like wind turbines, new hospitals and schools.