The Welsh Government will funnel an extra £425m into the NHS while cutting funding for education and local government, its draft budget reveals.
The two-year budget, supported by the Liberal Democrats outlines the planned expenditure for the final two years of the administration.
The £15.1 billion budget was welcomed by Caerphilly AM Jeff Cuthbert. It gives a 3.5% cash boost to the NHS while cutting the local government budget 4.2%, taking £193m next year from local services, such as social services.
Funding for the Education and Skills department will be cut in real terms by 1.6%, or £29m, while Communities and Tackling Poverty will lose £3.3m.
Natural Resources was the hardest hit, losing 7.5% of its cash but Economy, Science and Transport was given a boost of £14m.
Jeff Cuthbert AM said: “This is a budget that reflects the priorities of people in Caerphilly that recognises the high regard in which they hold our National Health Service.
“It is of course a difficult budget – the massive cuts made to the Welsh budget by the Tories in Westminster obviously have an impact. However, our priorities are different and we are protecting the services that matter most to people.
“I am also delighted that we continue to provide support to the excellent and ground breaking Jobs Growth Wales Scheme.
“The people of Wales can see first-hand that this Welsh Government is on their side.”
Finance Minister Jane Hutt said: “Faced with unprecedented cuts by the UK Government, we have had to make difficult decisions to protect the services people the length and breadth of Wales rely on.
“The ground-breaking two-year agreement we have reached with the Welsh Liberal Democrats ensures stability for the people of Wales and the providers of our essential public services.
“Investing in our health service is a priority for this Government – it is what the people of Wales expect. That is why I have today announced £425m for the NHS in Wales over this year and next. This responds directly to the Nuffield Challenge and reflects how vital health spending is to the longer-term health and wellbeing of the people of Wales.”
The support from the Liberal Democrats means the draft budget is likely to be passed by The Senedd with little difficulty.
In a joint statement the Welsh Government and Liberal Democrats said: “Central to the agreement is an extra £44m in 2015/16 increasing to £51.2m in 2016/17, to boost the Pupil Deprivation Grant (PDG).
“This builds on the existing programme which is an important response to the commitment to break the link between poverty and educational attainment. The additional investment will uplift the current PDG from £918 per pupil to £1,050 in 2015/16, increasing to £1,150 in 2016/17.
“This funding is over and above the Welsh Government’s commitment to increase school funding by 1% above overall changes to the Welsh budget.
But Plaid Cymru called it a “short-sighted” budget that delivered a “vicious blow to the services that we rely on”.
Plaid Cymru’s finance spokesman Alun Ffred Jones said: “The UK Government’s determination to shrink public services is being continued by the Labour government in Wales. The Labour party is doing the Tories’ dirty work for them. Protecting the health budget without protecting the social services that support them is short-sighted, and scaling back social care will only put more pressure on health services in the long run.
“Plaid Cymru took the conscious decision to withdraw from budget negotiations because the Welsh Government committed this government, and many governments to come, to the flawed and expensive £1 billion M4 scheme when there were better options available.
“The Labour government’s failure to manage budgets has meant that it has been living hand-to-mouth for many years, and this budget is a continuation of that theme.”