Extra funding for NHS, councils and tackling climate change in Welsh Government budget

The Welsh NHS will receive an extra £1.3bn of funding over the next three years as part of the Welsh Government’s latest budget, which was unveiled on Monday.

A further £1.8bn will go towards climate change initiatives, while local authorities across Wales will receive a share of £750m over the next three years to spend on areas such as schools, social care and more.

Wales’ Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said the budget will “support the Wales of today and shape the Wales of tomorrow”.

It is the first Welsh Government budget announced since the Senedd Election in May, which saw Welsh Labour maintain power with an increased number of seats.

The budget follows on from the Cooperation Agreement signed by the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.

What is included in the Welsh Government budget?

The Welsh NHS will get an extra £1.3bn in funding to help it during the Covid-19 pandemic and as it recovers from the pandemic, while an extra three-quarters of a billion pound will be split amongst Wales’ 22 local authorities.

More than £250m will go into social services in 2022/23, including £180m within the local government settlement.

Also included in the budget is £116m of economic support for businesses in the retail, leisure and hospitality industries, which have all been hit hard by the pandemic and subsequent restrictions.

Meanwhile, the budget includes funding to support the Welsh Government’s plans to create a national forest, as well as green initiatives such as active travel, renewable energy, flood protections and plans to lower carbon emissions in homes.

Of the £1.8bn, £1.6bn will be spent on housing – including £1bn for social housing and £375m for building safety.

A further £320m will go towards education reform, including £30m for childcare and early years provision, £40m for Flying Start, £90m for free school meals and £63.5m for post-16 provision.

The Welsh Government has also announced £900m funding for the 21st Century Schools programme, which improves school buildings.

Meanwhile, £61m has been earmarked for employability support, apprenticeships and the Welsh Government’s Young Person’s Guarantee, which aims to offer everyone under the age of 25 work, apprenticeships, education or training.

Elsewhere, £44.4m will be go towards improving coal tip safety.

“Moving us towards a stronger, fairer, greener Wales”

Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said the budget “will support our public services to be stronger, put Wales further down the path to being a net zero nation, and create a fairer nation with equality at its heart”.

She said the budget is “nearly £3bn lower than if it had increased in line with the economy since 2010/11” and added: “Revenue funding is increasing by less than half a per cent in real terms between 2022-23 and 2024-25, and overall capital funding is falling in cash terms in each year of the Spending Review period – 11% lower in real terms in 2024-25 than the current year.”

Ms Evans said the UK Government’s Spending Review, which was released in October, “did not deliver for Wales” and said the budget has been delivered “in that context”.

“While there are tough choices ahead, we have been able to provide funding that will allow Wales to rise to the challenges we face, grounded in the distinctively Welsh values of environmental, social and economic justice.

She said the budget provides “the foundations for recovery and moving us towards a stronger, fairer, greener Wales”.

Plaid Cymru’s finance spokesperson, Llyr Gruffydd, said the budget will provide transformational support for “some of our poorest households” and “change people’s lives for the better across Wales”.

However, Mr Gruffydd said more could be done if Wales wasn’t “dictated by a Tory UK Government in Westminster that is out of sight and so out of touch with our nation’s needs”.

But the budget wasn’t met with the same optimism by the Welsh Conservatives.

Peter Fox MS, the Conservative Shadow Finance Minister, said he was disappointed not to see funding set aside for “regional surgical and diagnostic hubs to tackle our huge NHS waiting lists,” as well as funding to improve Wales’ “crumbling” road infrastructure.

Mr Fox pointed to the funding for Wales announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in October’s Spending Review and said: “Due to this record funding from the Conservative UK Government, Labour’s playbook of excuses in Cardiff Bay has well and truly run out and they will be judged on the delivery and results of this budget. They have more than enough tools at their disposal to kickstart the Welsh economy, tackle the NHS crisis, and deliver a better future for our children.

“They can no longer blame Westminster, Brexit, the weather, or any other excuse that might be in fashion at the time.”