THE WELSH Government has unveiled its spending plans for next year with an additional £1.5bn allocated to public services, including an extra £610m for health and social care.

Mark Drakeford announced all government departments will receive increases in day-to-day revenue and longer-term capital funding, marking a departure from last year’s cuts.

Wales’ finance secretary described the £26bn draft budget as offering an opportunity to rebuild and reinvigorate public services after 14 difficult years.

He said: “This is a budget for a brighter future, delivering an extra £1.5bn for our public services and priorities, helping to put Wales firmly back on the path of growth….

“This is in stark contrast to the last couple of years when we have been forced to make some very difficult and painful decisions.”

The ex-First Minister added: “This is a good budget for Wales. But it will take time to reverse the damage inflicted on Wales over 14 years of neglect from previous UK administrations.”

The draft budget includes an extra £610m for health and social services, £186m to improve rail services, including the core valleys lines, and £81m to build more social housing for rent.

Councils will receive a 4.3% increase in the local government settlement.

The increases by department are as follows:

• Health: 3.8% revenue, 30% capital
• Housing and local government: 5.4% revenue, 11.2% capital
• Education: 4.9% revenue, 8.1% capital
• Transport: 12% revenue, 10.7% capital
• Climate change and rural affairs: 6.6% revenue, 31% capital
• Economy, energy and planning: 4.3% revenue, 59.1% capital
• Social justice: 4.7% revenue, 23% capital
• Central services and administration: 7.4% revenue, 47% capital

Welsh rates of income tax will remain unchanged, with taxpayers continuing to pay the same rates as in England and Northern Ireland.

However, the Welsh Government announced that higher residential rates of land transaction tax – Wales’ equivalent of stamp duty – will increase by 1%, raising an extra £7m.

The standard rate of landfill disposal tax will also rise to reduce waste and boost recycling.

The big question is how the Welsh Government will pass its budget, with parliamentary arithmetic in the Senedd on a knife-edge and Labour one seat short of a majority.

Eluned Morgan, who has warned Wales could lose out on £1bn if opposition parties do not support the spending plans, will need to cut a deal with at least one opposition member.

Previous budgets have been passed with the help of Plaid Cymru, Liberal Democrat and independent Senedd Members, with a deal with the Conservatives seeming unlikely.

Plaid Cymru backed the Welsh Government’s budget in recent years in return for 46 commitments but the cooperation deal between the two collapsed in October 2023.

The First Minister could also reach out to Jane Dodds, the Lib Dems’ leader in Wales and the party’s sole Senedd Member, or Rhys ab Owen, who sits as an independent.

Senedd Members need to agree a motion on Welsh rates of income tax (Writ), which are forecast to raise about £3.3bn in 2025/26, before the budget can be passed.

Writ defaults to zero if a motion cannot be passed, meaning basic, higher and additional rates would decrease by 10p in the £1 for Welsh taxpayers.

If the annual budget motion is not agreed by the start of the financial year in April, the budget of the Welsh Government would revert to 75% of the previous year’s.

This would also affect directly funded bodies such as the Senedd, Public Services Ombudsman, Wales Audit Office and the Electoral Commission.

If a motion is still not agreed by the end of July, the budget rises to 95%.

Mark Drakeford will lead a debate on the draft budget in the debating chamber or Siambr, which will be broadcast live on Senedd.TV from about 2.50pm today.

He will also appear before the Welsh Parliament’s finance committee on Thursday morning to face questions about the spending plans for the 12 months from April.

Senedd Members will then scrutinise the draft budget through December and January.

Committees will take evidence from witnesses including the Office for Budget Responsibility, Institute for Fiscal Studies, Wales Fiscal Analysis, Bevan Foundation and Citizens’ Advice.

Based on this evidence, committees will publish scrutiny reports by February 3.

A further debate on the draft budget will be held the following day, with the final budget set to be published on February 25 and a crunch vote to follow on March 4.

Navigating this year’s budget process will be a key test for Wales’ new First Minister, with the next Senedd election looming in less than 18 months in May 2026.

A CALL for Pembrokeshire County Council to spread a little festive cheer by not issuing any court summonses for non-payment of council tax as a way of “showing empathy” for residents under financial pressure is to be heard later this week.

A Notice of Motion by Independent group leader Cllr Huw Murphy, to be heard at the December 12 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, asks: “That PCC do not issue any summonses for appearance at magistrates court for non-payment of council tax during the month of December.”

It adds: “At a Corporate O&S meeting on November 14 it was disclosed that since April 2024 PCC have sent out 14,000 reminder letters with regards to council tax (late payment) and issued 4,000 summonses for non-payment of council tax, which clearly evidences the financial pressure many Pembrokeshire residents currently face.

“December is for many families a festive month and although the debt does not go away the avoidance of any prosecutions during the month of December in the lead up to the festive holiday will indicate some empathy by PCC towards its residents under most financial pressure.”

The notice of motion will be heard at the December 12 meeting.

Cllr Murphy is no stranger to festive cheer calls; last year asking for the council to overturn a “mean-spirited” decision to end the free collection of trees in Pembrokeshire after the festive season.

That 2023 ‘Christmas tree call-in’ motion, supported by councillors Vanessa Thomas, Anji Tinley, Alan Dennison, Elwyn Morse, Michael James and Iwan Ward, was defeated by nine votes to four.

CALLS to improve the communication of road closures at a regularly flood-hit road at the entrance to Tenby are to be heard later this week.

The Gumfreston area near the south Pembrokeshire seaside town is regularly hit with flood, and councillors recently heard its existing warning system appeared to not like working when its wet.

In a submitted question before the December 12 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, Cllr Rhys Jordan will say: “The B4318 at Gumfreston is prone to persistent flooding during adverse weather conditions, leading to road closures that disrupt travel and pose safety risks for residents and motorists.

“Currently, closures are not effectively communicated to residents, causing inconvenience, delays, and potential hazards. An efficient alert system would provide timely information to residents, allowing them to plan alternative routes and ensuring safety.”

Back in October, Cllr Jordan had asked at full council for an update on progress made toward improving the flood warning system in the Gumfreston area.

He had asked: “Can you give me an assurance that the flood warning system will actually work this autumn and winter?

“Only yesterday [October 16] the road was flooded and no warning signs were on; it seems to work when the road is not flooded, but they don’t like operating when its wet.”

He described it as “probably the most closed road in the county,” but one where there was the least communication on.

Members were given a ‘full commitment’ improvements to the warning systems would be made.