No new policies in next year's budget, says Mark Drakeford

BBC News

5 hours ago

Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford will try to avoid political wrangling before next year's Senedd election by writing a "neutral" budget.He told Senedd members his final budget before the election will repeat this year's spending plans.It will not pay for new policies because that "will be for political parties to put before the Welsh electorate", Drakeford said.Conservatives said it showed the "fragility" of Labour, which runs a minority government and has lost support in recent opinion polls.
A draft budget for 2026/27 will be published in October, with MSs voting on a final budget in January.In a statement, Drakeford said he did not want to tie the hands of the next parliament by publishing spending plans in the final weeks of a five-year Senedd term.Instead, the cabinet had agreed to plan "a business-as-usual budget", rising in line with inflation.But he added he was "open to the possibility of working with other political parties who believe a more ambitious budget could be agreed".Taxpayer funding for public services falls if the Senedd cannot pass a budget - something that would have a "catastrophic impact", Drakeford said.The cabinet's decision to restate this year's budget "is designed to maximise the chances that that risk can be avoided", he said."The politically neutral approach I have set out this afternoon is an attempt to secure stability and certainty for our public services and for our constituents," he said.
'Loss of authority'
Drakeford said the next government will inherit a £400m fund to spend on what it wants after the election.With Labour one seat short of a majority in the Senedd chamber, Drakeford needed the support of the Senedd's sole Liberal Democrat MP to pass a budget for this financial year. The Conservatives and Plaid Cymru voted against it in March.Opinion polls suggest a hung parliament is likely again after next May's election, with no party winning an outright majority.Conservative MS Sam Rowlands said the "roll-over budget" was "an acknowledgement that there is a real risk of Labour not being in government after the next Senedd election"."I believe that's an admission of fragility and loss of authority by the Labour Party here in Wales," he said.Plaid Cymru MS Heledd Fychan said some voluntary groups and charities "are facing perhaps closure, so will be concerned and looking to next year's budget to see if they can survive or not".