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Peredur Owen Griffiths, who represents Plaid Cymru, is one of four regional Senedd Members serving the South Wales East region.

Reports around the Welsh Government budget may not register on the consciousness of every citizen of Wales. It is perhaps hard to get your head around the large figures that are being bandied about. Amid a cost-of-living crisis, you can understand why people would be more focused on managing their own household budgets when every single penny counts.

Having said that, the Welsh Government budget really does matter. It is incredibly important and impacts the lives of every one of us, whether we realise it or not. The devolution settlement means we have powers and responsibility for health, education, economic development, transport, the environment, agriculture, local government, as well as some taxes.

Plaid Cymru would like control over more matters as we recognise – just like the recent report from the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales did – that the status quo is not working.

As things stand, Wales’ finances are tied into the whims of the English cabinet and their spending priorities. If, say for example, it is decided that money is needed within the English NHS to address waiting lists, then Wales will get a percentage of that spend based upon the long-discredited Barnett funding formula.

The Welsh Government is having to react to ‘new’ money rather than being able to plan in advance what is needed. That is fundamentally wrong and no way for a government to be run.

To turn to the Welsh Government’s budget, there is no denying that there is a large black hole in its finances because of the inadequate ‘block grant’ we have received from Westminster. Despite the insistence of First Minister Mark Drakeford that being a part of the UK is “a great insurance policy,” the Labour Government has been dealt a bad hand with its settlement.

It does seem they are trying to have it both ways as they are not shy to complain about the budgetary pressures and lay the blame squarely at the door of Westminster despite clinging onto the union for dear life at every opportunity. 

But just because you are dealt a bad hand, it does not mean you can’t make the most of that hand. To turn to my role as Chair of the Senedd Finance Committee, we have heard compelling evidence that the Welsh Government budget will not protect frontline services and it will not protect the most vulnerable in society.

The Welsh Local Government Association – made up of many Labour council leaders – were unequivocal in saying the budget could not protect services. My committee’s analysis of the proposed spending and taxation plans concluded that it is unlikely that money for local authorities and social care providers would be enough to keep services at an acceptable level.

It is also worrying that an uplift in spending for the NHS has not been accompanied by a similar boost for the social care sector. The additional NHS money is welcomed by the committee, but the increasing demand on social care without more funding could create knock-on pressures for the NHS. The lack of time and scrutiny we were allowed as a committee to get into detail with the budget made our job more difficult and arguably denied the budget the laser-like focus it needed.

These are undoubtedly tough times and there will be difficult decisions ahead for all in local government when finances are so tight. What is vital is that local authorities take people with them when they make those difficult decisions.

This means holding meaningful consultations, providing clear data and communicating clearly with people so they can understand the rationale of a proposed closure of a leisure service or popular cafe that acts as a de-facto tourist information centre.

These are things that have been sorely lacking in Caerphilly County Borough in recent years where the norm has been to announce a decision taken behind closed doors as a fait accompli. This only leads to feelings of anger, frustration and powerlessness from the people affected by those decisions.