The Welsh Government revealed its draft financial plans for 2023/24 in December to concern from the housing sector. WHQ reports on the Draft Budget and the reaction ahead of the Final Budget next month.
Finance minister Rebecca Evans has announced Draft Budget plans that she says will protect public services and the most vulnerable.
But there was disappointment across the housing sector over spending lines that have failed to keep pace with inflation since the three-year Budget announced in December 2021.
The Draft Budget includes additional funding coming to Wales as a result of the UK Government’s Autumn statement, with extra money allocated to NHS Wales and school, plus business support and delivering the real living wage in social care.
The minister said: ‘This is a budget in hard times, which will help to protect frontline public services as far as we can in the face of a perfect storm of financial pressures, while also providing some extra help to those most affected by the cost-of-living crisis and supporting our economy through the recession.’
But she described it as ‘one of the toughest budgets since devolution’ in the wake of austerity, Brexit and the pandemic plus soaring inflation and energy costs: ‘We are still operating in a difficult financial context, with our budget nearly £3 billion lower than if it had increased in line with the economy since 2010-11. Revenue funding is increasing by less than half a per cent in real terms between 2022-23 and 2024-25, and overall capital funding is falling in cash terms in each year of the Spending Review period – 11 per cent lower in real terms in 2024-25 than the current year.’
She added that: ‘Inflation has eroded the spending power of our budget but not our ambition. We have taken very difficult decisions to make sure all our resources are used to help support people, businesses and services through the tough year ahead.’
The Budget includes funding for the response to the war in Ukraine and for people seeking sanctuary in Wales of £40 million in 2023/24 and £20 million in 2024/25.
There is also an additional £18.8 million for the Discretionary Assistance Fund, which provides lifeline emergency cash payments to people facing financial hardship.
But key housing budgets were left largely unchanged from last year despite inflation rising at 10.7 per cent in the year to November and housing organisations raised the alarm about the impact on housing investment and on people experiencing homelessness and frontline staff.
Rhea Stevens of Community Housing Cymru, Katie Dalton of Cymorth Cymru and Cerys Clark of Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru outline their concerns and make the case for a rethink over the next x pages.