Westminster 'uncertainty' delays Welsh Government budget
The next Welsh Government budget will be published on 10 December, a couple of months later than usual.
Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said uncertainty in Westminster meant she did not know how much will be available to spend next year. She also said prioritising the NHS would mean "very, very tough choices" for other public services. Opponents - and a Labour AM - accused her of blaming the UK government instead of taking responsibility. Most of the Welsh Government's budget comes in a grant from Westminster. Devolved administrations and Whitehall departments normally use multi-year spending reviews by the Treasury to plan ahead. But Ms Evans said the UK government was now likely to publish its plans for just the next year. Until it does, in the chancellor's UK budget in the autumn, the Welsh Government will not know the size of its revenue budget beyond the end of this financial year in April 2020. Revenue budgets pay for day-to-day spending, about half of which goes on public sector pay. The UK budget date has not been set, but Ms Evans said if it was early enough she would bring forward her own budget. In the meantime, she told AMs the Welsh Government was "looking at various scenarios" and "all kinds of possible outcomes", including leaving the EU without a deal. In the Senedd, Conservative AM Nick Ramsay said: "This statement was more about UK government bashing rather than putting forward that positive Welsh Government vision that we all in this Chamber would like to see." Plaid Cymru AM Llyr Gruffydd said Ms Evans should be "leading the charge from the front and not just shrugging your shoulders". Brexit Party AM Mark Reckless said instead of confronting long-term challenges "we get this. I mean, what a whinge". Labour AM Alun Davies also accused her of blaming the UK government in a "somewhat disappointing statement". "We have to take responsibility for these issues here as well," he said.