Mark Drakeford(Image: Getty Images)

Welsh Government responds to Rachel Reeves' Budget and admits it 'never could solve all our problems'

30 Oct 2024, 19:25 by Abbie Wightwick · Wales Online

Mark Drakeford said he was never expecting a “bumper budget”. So how does he view things now the chancellor has announced in her budget £1.7bn for Wales next April?

As well as giving Wales the largest real-terms funding increase since devolution Rachel Reeves added on £25m to make disused coal tips safe. Mr Drakeford, Welsh Government Finance Minister and former First Minister, said the £1.7b package was “at the upper end” of what the Welsh Government had asked the chancellor for and some of the cash would go on helping address NHS waiting lists and school budgets.

As for the £25m for coal tips coming in 2025-26, that was the exact sum Cardiff Bay requested, as part of a £91 package over three years it is seeking from Whitehall. Mr Drakeford hopes the rest will come in future budgets in contrast to the “not a penny” from previous Conservative governments for the vital work to keep communities safe.

Perhaps it was disappointing that the Welsh Government’s repeated requests for Wales to get its share of funding for the HS2 high-speed rail line was denied again. Mark Drakeford said ruefully he was never expecting everything, given the dire straits the economy was left in after 14 years of Conservatives “starving” public funds.

He, the First Minister and the rest of the cabinet will look over the details before announcing Cardiff Bay’s budget on December 10. Until then he wasn’t giving any detail on exactly how the money for Wales will be divvied up among the many competing demands for cash.

But he had this to say after a historic first Labour budget delivered for 14 years and the first from a woman chancellor: “Of course the additional investment for Wales is very welcome. The chancellor was clear she was not able to solve all problems of the UK economy in weeks, but this is a good start.

He said he can give “a general assurance” that the Welsh Government will always prioritise the NHS. The Welsh Government gave the NHS here a 4% uplift in its budget this year compared with the 1% England got. “We have a record of investing in the public sector to give anyone confidence,” Mr Drakeford added.

Pressed on where that cash would go in the NHS he said: “The details of where we deploy what we have got will be looked at in the next few days and then cabinet will decide. There are always many calls.

"But the NHS is a priority for a Labour government. Next year we will get £25.5m of capital investment in Wales after being starved of capital.

“I want the NHS in Wales to have up to date equipment. Revenue is welcome but we have capital now for the first time and I think we’ll want to use that for our public services for equipment and building.”

He said the situation for school buildings in Wales was not as dire as that in England, thanks to the 21st century schools programme which has been delivering new schools for years, nor was there such a big problem with RAAC.

But he said investment for schools and school budgets was still needed and he was “aware of the struggles in schools and local authority services for the schools they fund.”

“You can be sure we hear all the time about pressures in councils and schools. That will be in our minds.”

On HS2 money for Wales Mr Drakeford said the Welsh Government “absolutely will be” continuing to press for that. So far no money has been forthcoming from Whitehall as the project is classed as England and Wales, even though it does not run into Wales.

“IT was never realistic that the chancellor would be able to respond to everything,” the Finance Minister said. “We hope for better news on rail investment in the future.

“We have got a budget at the upper end of our expectations, but we still have to say to people that one good year can’t make good 14 years of resource starvation.

“But this is a start. A good start. This budget did not solve all our problems and never could.”