The Welsh
Government and Plaid Cymru have agreed a two-year, £210m Budget
agreement.
The deal includes ensuring no
cuts to the Supporting People grant; £15m to improve vital north
and south links on the A487 and A470 and a £40m boost for mental
health funding over two years.
There is an extra £20m-a-year
for higher and further education and £6m for a young farmers’
grant scheme over two years.
There is additional funding for
the Welsh language; for Wales to deal with the impact of Brexit,
including support for businesses and for music in schools. The
agreement builds on the one struck between the Welsh Government
and Plaid Cymru last year.
It also includes a £7m
development fund for undergraduate medical training in North
Wales; £2m to remove the tolls on the Cleddau bridge in
Pembrokeshire in 2019-20; £3m to support the design and
development of a third Menai bridge crossing and a further £2m
for the secretariat and investment support for a new ‘Arfor’
economic region in West Wales.
Welsh Government Finance
Secretary said: “We are pleased we
have been able to agree this two-year deal with Plaid Cymru,
which secures the whole of our Budget.
“This agreement builds on the
one reached between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru last
year and includes a series of recurrent allocations for the Welsh
language, arts, end-of-life-care, mental health, higher education
and Visit Wales.
“We have also been able to
agree capital funding to take forward the new integrated
healthcare centre in Cardigan and the results of the feasibility
studies into a national art gallery and football museum in North
Wales, which were agreed as part of last year’s
agreement.”
, Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for
finance, business and the economy, said: “This is a Budget
Agreement that will deliver for people and communities in all
parts of Wales.
“It protects the vulnerable,
invests in our young, and innovates for all our futures.
This is a pan-Wales budget agreement, from the Cleddau to the
Menai from Wrexham to the Rhondda, from culture to agriculture,
from energy and transport to education and health - new ideas for
a new Wales.”
