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Wales’ Final Budget for 2024 to 2025 has been published today
[Tuesday 27th February], as persistently high inflation
continues to erode public finances and difficult choices are made
to protect core services.
This Final Budget updates the Draft Budget proposals which were
published in December. Those proposals had to take into
consideration the most difficult financial situation faced since
devolution, with the impact of persistently high inflation making
the budget worth £1.3bn less in real terms than when it was set
in 2021.
Speaking at a press conference today, Finance Minister , said:
“Our budget proposals for 2024 to 25 have been designed to
protect the core services we all rely on, as far as possible.
“We have restructured our spending plans to focus funding toward
frontline NHS services; to the local government settlement, to
protect funding for schools, and to maintain BPS payments for
farmers next year.
“Even though we will be spending more in these core areas, our
public services face a very difficult year ahead as they manage
the twin pressures of increased demand and costs.”
The Minister continued:
“Typically, we do not make many changes between Draft and Final
Budget, but this time we are making more changes than usual. That
is because in the last couple of weeks the UK Government has
finally given us further details about the funding consequentials
we will receive as a result of decisions it has made to increase
spending in devolved areas in England during this financial year.
“This information has come through very late in the year. At
£231m, the additional revenue represents around two-thirds of our
reserve capacity.
“If we had had this information when we were managing our
difficult in-year position we could have made some different
choices this year, and avoided making some of the more difficult
decisions. However, it does mean that we can make almost £190m of
extra allocations in the Final Budget for next year.”
The extra allocations are focused on those areas where pressures
are most severe, or where reductions would not have been made had
the UK Government been more forthcoming with the funding
information.
The Final Budget allocates:
- £14.4m for local government to help it meet pressures in
social care and schools. We are also reversing cuts made to the
social care workforce grant and to the children and communities
grant.
- £10m to strengthen apprenticeship and employability
programmes, ensuring help for steel workers if Tata proceeds with
their plans to close the blast furnaces at Port Talbot.
- £40m of new capital funding to support the NHS.
- £30m for Holyhead Breakwater.
- £20m to fund to help small and medium-sized businesses
future-proof their businesses.
- A number of Financial Transactions capital allocations,
including up to £20m to progress housing proposals, continuing to
support additional social housing to help tackle homelessness,
and the associated indirect costs including poorer health,
employment and educational outcomes.
The Minister also spoke about the need for greater budget
flexibilities, which are already available to Scotland. This
greater flexibility would ensure that Wales had the tools and the
autonomy to use its money in the best possible way, better
fitting the needs and priorities of the people who live and work
here.
A debate on these greater flexibilities will take place in the
Senedd later today [Tuesday 27th February].
The Final Budget will be debated in the Senedd on Tuesday
5th March.
Notes to editors
Notes
The final budget and accompanying documents are available here:
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