Mark Drakeford: Welsh government facing ‘toughest financial situation’ since devolution | UK News

The Welsh government is facing its “toughest financial situation” since devolution, the country’s first minister has said.

Mark Drakeford said there were “significant financial pressures” facing the government’s budget for the 2023-24 budget.

Members of the Senedd are currently in recess but Mr Drakeford said those in the cabinet will work throughout the summer to “mitigate” the budgetary pressures.

The first minister said his government’s priorities will be to protect “frontline public services” while “targeting support towards those at greatest need”.

Mr Drakeford has blamed the budgetary constraints on “record levels of inflation” and the “mismanagement of the UK economy and public finances by successive UK governments”.

The Welsh government said it had drawn on “all [its] available resources” when drawing up the budget.

Despite this, its financial position after the UK government’s Budget in March was “up to £900m lower in real terms” than at the last spending review in 2021, the first minister said.

The Welsh Conservatives, the largest opposition party in the Senedd, said Labour were making “their own problems worse”.

In a written statement on Wednesday, Mark Drakeford said the cabinet met on 1 August to discuss the financial situation facing the Welsh government.

Mr Drakeford said he would provide a further update to members of the Senedd once ministers have considered areas where money could be saved.

The statement comes after the Welsh government confirmed at the end of June it would stop providing free school meals during the summer holidays, facing criticism from opposition parties.

The programme was first introduced during the COVID pandemic and now helps families struggling with the cost of living.

Some councils have since announced they will be directly funding the scheme so it can continue in their areas.

Welsh Conservative leader, Andrew RT Davies, said money should be spent on “vital public services”.

“Labour continue to make their own problems worse by pushing their extreme ideology and vanity projects, such as costly default 20mph speed limits, and sending more politicians to Cardiff Bay,” he said.

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A report published at the end of March showed the Welsh government missed out on £155.5m at the height of the pandemic due to its “poor” accounts management.

The Welsh government said at the time the Treasury refused a request to carry funds over to the following financial year – a move it called “wholly unacceptable”.

A Treasury spokesperson said the Welsh government’s funding arrangements were “applied in the usual way”.