Nick Ramsay AM, Shadow Minister for Finance, has criticised the Draft Budget, published today (December 16), calling it a missed opportunity to deliver transformative change in Wales.
While acknowledging that the Budget had been prepared against a backdrop of a General Election and Brexit, he said that a government must be able to plan and prepare for any number of eventualities.
Mr Ramsay welcomed the proposal to spend £421 million more on health, £200m for education infrastructure, and £140m on decarbonisation but said the jury is still out on whether these projects would deliver the change Wales, adding:
“This budget sees an extra £600 million from the UK Treasury on top of the nearly £15 billion block grant it receives from the UK Government – not forgetting that for each £1 spent per head in England, £1.20 is pent per head in Wales. We now really need to see where the money will go.
“Will the extra funding for health really alleviate the problems of national scandals such as Betsi Cadwalladr University Health Board or Cwm Taf, and that half of Wales’ health boards are in some form of Welsh Government intevention? Will it improve A & E waiting times that have been missed again? Time will tell.
“Will the additional funding for education improve our country’s PISA ratings, or will we continue to languish in fourth place out of the UK nations?
“Will the budget actually deliver improvements to our road network, or following the debacle of the £144m spent on the M4 Relief Road inquiry – the Road to Nowhere – will we see more dithering and indecisiveness, which affects businesses, commuters, and the economy?
Mr Ramsay, who represents Monmouth, described the extra £4.8m to prop up Cardiff Airport as “concerning” and said there should be no “blank cheque” for the airport.
He said: “Welsh Conservatives of course support initiatives to mitigate climate change and planting hundreds of thousands of trees in Uganda is all well and good, but we also need ambitious targets for tree planting and wider decarbonisation in Wales.
“It’s also concerning to see the Welsh Government propping up Cardiff Airport with an extra £4.8m when there is no evidence that previous “blank cheques” have had any sustainable effect.
“Welsh Conservatives welcome the considerable sums of money now coming to Wales as a result of the spending decisions of the UK Government.
“We now need a budget that delivers a dynamic, forward-thinking, and agile Wales but this budget falls sadly short.”
ENDS