The Welsh Government today published its First Supplementary Budget, allocating £294 million across its key priorities for the year ahead.
Today’s 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 that people across Wales rely on. 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 made last week. On 16 June, a £55 million investment was confirmed to help hundreds more families access funded childcare for their two-year-olds.
On 18 June, the government confirmed a £145 million boost 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 long-overdue maintenance in hospitals and surgeries.
And on 22 June, £15 million was announced so that more secondary school pupils from families on Universal Credit can receive free school meals, in time for the new term.
The minister added:
“This is about more than new funding, it’s about beginning to reshape how our public services work after 27 years of a previous government.
“This new government will ensure that every pound delivers better outcomes – better childcare, better healthcare and better public services for the people of Wales.
The budget is published today and will be debated and voted on 14 July.