Welsh Government budget missed opportunity to tackle inequalities, says Plaid Cymru

Responding to the Welsh Government budget announcement, Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Minister for Finance, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said,

“This budget is a missed opportunity. It is a missed opportunity to support local government and to protect public services – councils that have performed heroically over the past twelve months in the face of unprecedented pressures. It is a missed opportunity to provide additional support for businesses including hospitality and tourism. It is a missed opportunity to take the pressure off local taxpayers by freezing council tax. And it is a missed opportunity to help the poorest in society by extending the eligibility of free school meals to all children in homes on universal credit.

“We need to keep money flowing to help those businesses who truly need it, to help with the pressures on health and care services, and to help the most vulnerable in our society.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented pressure on public expenditure in Wales and has exposed inequalities at the heart of our society. This budget has sadly failed to get to grips with that.

“Meanwhile, Plaid Cymru is ready with a programme of investment of billions of pounds in rebuilding Wales – not back to where we were prior to the pandemic, but to a level where we can be far more ambitious in what we try to achieve as a nation of equals.”