Finance Minister has today [Tuesday 17
October] announced a package of financial measures to help
protect Wales’ public services, NHS and transport.
Following months of intensive cross-Government work, the Welsh
Government has developed a prudent plan to respond to the
extraordinary financial pressures facing public services.
The Welsh budget is under unprecedented pressure caused by the
combination of record and persistent inflation, more than a
decade of austerity, and the UK Government’s mismanagement of the
economy.
Speaking in the Senedd, the Finance Minister said the
government’s priority is to protect core services, jobs, and
people hardest hit by the current cost of living crisis, as she
announced a package of changes to spending plans.
These changes will enable the Welsh Government to direct £425m of
additional funding to support the Welsh NHS this year.
And Transport for Wales’ budget will increase by £125m this year
to help safeguard services for passengers and continue the
programme of transformation.
The local government Revenue Support Grant (RSG) has also been
protected. This helps to pay for schools, social care and many of
the services people rely on in their everyday lives, such as
their recycling and waste collections and local libraries.
Every Ministerial portfolio was asked to make a contribution to
meet the extraordinary financial pressures. Ministers have
re-prioritised spending and activities as much as possible,
rather than cutting programmes as a whole.
As part of the package of changes, the Welsh Government will make
up to £100m available from in-year reserves and the Wales
Reserve, and will ask the UK Treasury to switch some capital
funding to revenue funding this financial year – a mechanism
regularly used by the UK Government to help manage its budgets.
The package also includes an expectation there will be
consequential funding to come from the UK Government as a result
of increased spending in devolved areas, most notably public
sector pay.
, Minister for Finance and
Local Government said:
“We have worked hard across the government to put together a
package of financial changes which protect Wales’ public
services, NHS and transport.
“We have made difficult yet prudent decisions, which protect
people and will help to minimise, as far as possible, the impact
of these extraordinary financial pressures on the key services on
which we all rely.
“But I want to be clear, even though we have been able to
re-direct additional funding into health and transport services,
the NHS, in particular, still faces some extremely difficult
decisions as a result of the challenging financial position.
“The combination of persistently high inflation, more than a
decade of austerity, and the UK Government’s mismanagement of the
economy means all public services are under intense pressure.
Unfortunately, these are incredibly difficult times."
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