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Every Senedd election, Plaid Cymru goes in with a quiet sense of optimism. But this year, things are different. Plaid is tipped by many pollsters to win this election, with Rhun ap Iorwerth favourite to become the next First Minister.

Optimism is high off the back of Lindsay Whittle’s victory in the Caerphilly by-election last October – and it looks like that neck and neck battle between Plaid and Reform will be played out on a national level on polling day.

But what is in Plaid’s manifesto?

The party sets out five key priorities at the beginning of its manifesto: health and care service; childcare; the Welsh economy; Welsh schools; and child poverty.

Health and care service

Sharing a plan it says is “costed and targeted”, Plaid Cymru pledges to cut waiting lists as a “first and necessary step” in transforming the Welsh NHS.

Based on recommendations from the Royal College of Surgeons, Plaid says it will create ten new surgical hubs to speed up treatment times for procedures such as hip and knee operations and cataract removals.

Cutting waiting lists, the party says, is key to relieving the NHS of its most immediate pressures.

Once waiting lists are down, there will be space to invest in an integrated health and care service that guarantees better access to dentists and GPs, more sustainable social care, and keeps Wales healthy, it says.

Plaid also proposes the creation of a new minister for public health, who will ensure there is a greater focus on promoting both people’s physical and mental wellbeing through all Welsh Government actions.

The party emphasises that “under Plaid Cymru, our NHS will always be free to access at the point of need.”

Childcare

Referencing the sky-high costs of childcare across Wales, Plaid Cymru has centred affordable, quality childcare for all in their manifesto.

It emphasises the importance of affordable childcare in allowing parents, especially mothers, the freedom to return to work or training.

Plaid Cymru says it will “deliver a transformational and universal new childcare offer for children from the age of nine months to four years – putting money back into families’ pockets, supporting parents back into work, and providing the best start for every child, regardless of their background.”

By the time the party has fully rolled out its proposed childcare offer, if elected, every child aged nine months to four years will be entitled to 20 hours a week of free childcare, 48 weeks a year, it promises.

The party adds that for parents in work, education, or training with children aged three or four, Plaid will honour the existing offer of 30 hours of funded childcare per week.

The economy

Describing “untapped potential” within the Welsh economy, Plaid Cymru says it is presenting an economic plan that will support Welsh owned businesses, deliver good jobs, and revive town centres.

The party wants to introduce a new “business-led” national development agency for Wales, to help secure investment, trade, and innovation for Welsh businesses.

It’s pledging to use public procurement to better support Welsh businesses, aiming to increase the level spent on procuring goods and services from Wales-based suppliers from 55% to at least 70%.

Plaid Cymru also promises to reform business rates to “level the playing field” for businesses on Welsh high streets and “redress the existing imbalance that advantages out-of-town shopping.”

However, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has published evidence suggesting that reductions in business rates for certain locations increases demand for properties in that area, meaning that rents are pushed up and landlords largely benefit more than businesses.

Plaid Cymru also says it will work to protect and restore face-to-face banking services on high streets, including exploring options to deliver a new community bank.

Schools

Promising to ensure that all young people are supported to “learn and leave school with the highest possible levels of literacy and numeracy”, Plaid is vowing to deliver a “bold, practical, and inclusive strategy” to improve standards in Welsh schools.

It wants to introduce a new “foundational literacy and numeracy plan” to establish national benchmarks, ensure high-quality teaching, and provide targeted support and transparent progress tracking for every student.

Setting a deadline of 2030, the party also wants to ensure every primary school in Wales has a dedicated library space.

To invest in the future of Welsh education, Plaid Cymru aims to support the recruitment and retention of the best teachers through measures such as providing better incentives for trainee teachers, improving working conditions, and ensuring opportunities for career development.

The party also pledges to introduce free school meals in secondary schools to ensure that all pupils, from Year 7 to 11 from households on Universal Credit, are able to claim a free school meal with no income limit.

This policy also appears in the manifestos of Welsh Labour and the Wales Green Party.

Child poverty

Describing its new childcare offer as “new, targeted, and radical”, Plaid says it will boost household incomes and help lift families out of poverty.

The party says that “breaking the cycle of poverty is therefore not only the right thing to do, it is also the sensible thing to do”.

One of the headline proposals from the manifesto is Plaid’s pledge to introduce Cynnal – the Welsh child payment. 

The party says if it forms the next Welsh Government, a £10 weekly payment to up to 15,000 children aged up to six in low income households will be piloted.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies however questions how Plaid Cymru would be able to achieve this under current Senedd powers, as social security is reserved to Westminster.

But the party has acknowledged this in the manifesto and says it will “build the case for devolving the powers we need to roll the payment out in full, Wales-wide.”

Costings

David Phillips, head of devolved and local government finance at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said: “Taken together, these plans would amount to a notable increase in spending – by more in the coming Senedd term than implied by Welsh Labour’s plans, for example, although less than implied by the Green Party manifesto. Unfortunately, Plaid Cymru provides little information on how it would pay for these increases.

“As it stands, the outlook for Welsh Government funding implies that cuts to at least some services will be needed to maintain let alone improve health and social care services as costs and demands grow. 

“Spending £400 million a year more on childcare – with more to boot on a Welsh child payment, expanded free school meals, and better primary healthcare – would require either deeper cuts to unprotected services, a substantial slowdown in core health and social care spending, or as-yet unmentioned tax rises. 

“Plaid Cymru therefore does not appear to have faced up to the fiscal reality facing the next Welsh Government. And if the party knows how it would afford its pledges, it has omitted to explain how in its manifesto.”

Mr Phillips continued: “This is disappointing, especially given Plaid Cymru’s recent complaints about unfunded promises by other parties.

“The manifesto repeats previous claims that Wales has suffered ‘historic underfunding’ as a result of the Barnett formula, and says Plaid Cymru would push for more funding. 

“However, as discussed in a recent IFS report, the officially agreed method for assessing Wales’ relative funding suggests Wales receives more funding per person compared with England than the latest assessment of needs implies would be required.

“This funding advantage is set to shrink over the next few years, the relative needs assessments are now based on data almost 20 years old, and other methods for assessing relative funding suggest it is not as generous as the official method implies.”

He added: “Even so, it would seem premature to bank on a ‘needs-based’ funding system leading to an increase in Welsh Government funding to fund the manifesto’s ambitions.”

The Plaid Cymru manifesto in available online in both English and Welsh.