Pre-Budget Report
The Chancellor’s pre-budget report announces more cash for Wales over the next four years, although not a great deal in the next year only £9m. This does, however, provide some wriggle room for the First Minister and Sue Essex in terms of the budget. We need to remember that extra money that has been announced at Westminster is for schools and there is also some money for universities, so clearly education has been signalled as an important area at Westminster.
We are not obliged to follow that, but in view of the fact that the sticking point on the budget negotiations here has been on schools and universities, there is a happy coincidence here. It seems to me that this is the best way forward thought ultimately, as I said before, my Party will vote against the budget that was laid by Sue Essex yesterday if it doesn’t accommodate the amendments that were passed by the Assembly last month as we feel strongly that there is a need for extra money to go to schools and extra money to go to universities to close the funding gap with England, or at least to start to.
