Use our interactive explainer to find out how the new spending plans will affect you
NEXT week, politicians in the Senedd will vote on one of the biggest decisions of the year – the budget.
The budget sets out how the Welsh Government will spend its money for the next financial year, which runs from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026. This year’s budget plans are worth £26 billion.
The budget is important because it decides the amount of cash that will be spent on issues like the NHS, transport and education in Wales.
These are devolved issues, which means that they are controlled by the government in Wales and not by the UK Government in London.
The context
Last October, the UK Government in London announced £1.7 billion in extra cash for the Welsh Government.
That means, unlike the budgets we’ve seen in recent years, the Welsh Government is able to increase spending on all of the areas it controls.
A draft of the budget was published in December, but some changes were announced last week after the Labour Government negotiated a deal with the Welsh Liberal Democrats leader, Jane Dodds.
Labour has exactly half of the seats in the Senedd – 30 of 60 seats. That meant it needed to strike a deal with one member of another political party, in order for the budget vote to pass with a majority in favour of the plan.
After much negotiation, Labour eventually agreed a deal with Jane Dodds of the Welsh Liberal Democrats but, as part of the bargain, Dodds asked for some of her party’s priorities to be better funded. That lead to around £100 million worth of changes to Labour’s draft budget plan.
The agreement included more funding than was originally allocated for childcare, social care and transport, as well as a ban on greyhound racing in Wales. It is unclear at the moment where money were taken from to pay for Dodds priorities.
Your guide to the key announcements
We know that that trawling through a long list of spending announcements can feel overwhelming, but these decisions affect you and your family so it is important that you know about it.
That’s why we’ve created this simple summary to explain some of the most important spending commitments and how they might affect the biggest issues in Wales.
Click on the headings below to read about the spending areas that matter the most to you.
NHS waiting lists and social care
Most of us are worried about NHS waiting lists – and bringing these down is a top priority for the Welsh Government.
The latest figures show the number of people in Wales waiting more than 36 weeks for treatment has reached an all-time high of 284,586.
The draft budget in December included more than £600 million in extra cash for health and social care.
The Welsh Government says this will support its efforts to cut waiting times, including for mental health treatment.
Approximately £3 million will go towards delivering its new plan to improve healthcare for women. However, concerns have been raised by a Senedd committee that this amount falls short of what is needed.
It is also allocating £125 million of this money to help maintain NHS buildings and develop the use of digital technology within health services.
The budget deal agreed with Jane Dodds included an £30 million more than was originally allocated for social care.
This targeted support is to help solve the problem of hospital bed blocking, and increase the support available for people in their communities.
Housing
A key focus of the Welsh Government’s investment in housing is social homes.
The Welsh Government has a target to build 20,000 new social homes to rent by March 2026. However, an independent watchdog said last year that this target is unlikely to be met unless there is a significant amount of additional spending.
The proposed budget states that the Welsh Government will spend an extra £81 million to help reach this target.
That means the government’s allocation for the Social Housing Grant, which supports local authorities and registered social landlords to deliver homes for social rent, will rise to just over £437 million.
If you’re a first time buyer, an additional £57 million is also being provided for the Help to Buy scheme.
An additional £5.5 million is also being allocated for the Independent Living Programme, which supports older and disabled people to live in their homes.
Transport
One attention-grabbing announcement from the budget deal is that young people aged 16 to 21 will be able to travel on a bus anywhere in Wales for just £1.
The pilot scheme will cost £15 million and will run for one year starting in September.
The final budget deal also commits to bringing back a fifth daily train service on the Heart of Wales line that runs between Swansea and Shrewsbury. The service was cut from five trains per day to four trains last year.
It also included an extra £120 million to be given to local authorities to help repair roads and pavements.
Schools and children
Last week, the government announced an extra £30 million in cash for childcare, on top of the £20 million announced in the draft budget. This is very likely one of the areas affected by negotiations with Jane Dodds.
The additional money will go towards extending the Flying Start programme, which aims to boost early years support in disadvantaged areas in Wales. It will make childcare available to the majority of two-year-olds.
There is also £5 million being given to local authorities to improve playgrounds and other play spaces for children.
As with other departments, the education budget will see an rise in funding overall thanks to a bigger than expected allocation of money from the UK Government to fund the budget.
An extra £7 million is being allocated to help local authorities tackle poor school attendance, while there is also targeted support to raise standards in school.
- The final budget will be voted on in the Senedd on Tuesday, March 4. With the support of Jane Dodds, the government should have enough votes for it to pass.
