The Welsh Government has published its First Supplementary Budget, allocating £294 million across its key priorities for the year ahead.
The budget confirms new funding of £20 million to boost the supply of social housing, £40 million to improve school buildings and £5 million for community facilities. It also includes £10 million to keep bus and coach travel affordable for young people and increase services, £2 million for the Cynnal child payment and £2 million to give more children the chance to learn to swim.
The Cabinet Minister for Finance, Elin Jones, said:
“This Government was elected with a clear mandate and is delivering on it responsibly and at pace. This supplementary budget demonstrates that commitment – spending with purpose, with every pound working harder for Wales.
“We have inherited significant pressures – in the NHS, in childcare, and across public services – and we are transparent about that.
“This Supplementary Budget concentrates resources on our clearest priorities: cutting NHS waiting times, expanding childcare, extending free school meals, and easing cost-of-living pressures for families.”
The budget builds on a series of announcements already made, including £55 million to help hundreds more families access funded childcare for their two-year-olds and £145 million for the NHS to help patients be seen more quickly, including £25 million for new surgical and diagnostic hubs to speed up cancer and diagnostic tests and £20 million for maintenance in hospitals and surgeries. £15 million was also announced so that more secondary school pupils from families on Universal Credit can receive free school meals.
The Budget will be debated and voted on 14 July.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Wales responded to the Welsh Government’s supplementary budget, noting that while it provides continuity, greater ambition will be needed in the months ahead.
Joshua Miles, Head of FSB Wales, said:
“It is welcome that a supplementary budget has been presented, providing a degree of stability and continuity for Wales at a time when businesses are still facing significant cost pressures.
“This supplementary budget keeps things ticking over, but the next budget must go further — delivering the bold measures needed to unlock the full potential of Wales’s small business community.
“Our members will now be looking ahead to the Autumn budget as the key moment for action. That must be the point where we see meaningful progress on the big-ticket issues holding back growth in Wales.
“Reforming business rates remains absolutely critical to easing pressures on small firms, particularly those on our high streets.
“We also need to see sustained investment in transport infrastructure to help businesses access customers and staff, and a clear, long-term commitment to funding the new National Development Agency so that SMEs can start, grow and thrive would be an important statement of intent.”
