Sioned Williams MS writes why Labour’s budget won’t deliver for Welsh public services
This article was published in the South Wales Evening Post on Thursday 19 December.
Why Labour’s budget won’t deliver for Wales
Last week, the Labour Welsh Government published their draft budget for 2025 with the boast that this is a good budget for Wales with mainly more cash for the NHS.
Yet despite the boasts, the reality on the ground tells a different story: Record high waiting lists, almost half of cancer patients are not seen on time, and the ambulance targets have been missed so often that they are practically meaningless.
As well as being the result of Wales not getting the funding it is owed from Westminster, this is also result of Labour mis-management of the NHS in Wales over the last 25 years.
What makes no sense is that there isn’t enough money in this draft budget for our local councils, which do so much of the preventative health and essential care work that eases pressure on the NHS. Councils in Wales said they needed a 7% increase in their budgets to avoid cutting services and having to raise council tax – they got just half that from Finance Minister Mark Drakeford when he announced the spending plans in the Senedd.
This budget is also having to plug the gaps caused by the UK Labour Government’s shortsighted decision to increase employer National Insurance Contributions without reimbursing the costs for organisations that fall outside of the public sector, including charities, care homes and GP services. Organisations like Citizens Advice say this will have a devastating impact on their ability to support some of our most vulnerable citizens.
This is why talk of austerity being over is a myth.
Let’s not forget that we were promised that things would be better with two Labour governments in Westminster and Wales – but that’s another myth exposed by this draft budget.
Wales has the lowest funding increase of any devolved nation. Labour’s failure to give us the billions of pounds owed to us from HS2, control over our natural resources, or a fairer funding model for Wales, means our nation doesn’t have the money it needs to invest in what matters and ensure all our citizens are cared for.
Neither was there any mention of measures to support the half a million Welsh pensioners who have been pushed into fuel poverty as a result of Labour’s decision to cut the Winter Fuel Allowance. Those bills will not be lower next winter, and there seems no sign that the UK Government will reverse its decision to cut this crucial support. What’s worse is that the Welsh Labour Government aren’t even calling on them to do so!
This budget doesn’t deliver the change Wales needs and it’s time for a Plaid Cymru government that will challenge Westminster and demand fairness for Wales.