10. Debate: The Final Budget 2022-23

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:41 pm on 8 March 2022.

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Photo of Peter Fox Peter Fox Conservative 5:41, 8 March 2022

I think, sadly, there's a lot of smoke and mirrors around funding claims in this place, and there is—[Interruption.] There is a constant contradiction in perspectives from UK Government to Wales Government. The facts are that there was an extra £2.5 billion this year, or more, that has passported through to Welsh Government, to enable the Welsh Government to do the things it has aspired to do.

As I shared earlier, and as has already been talked about, there will be a need for further focus because of the significant economic impact that this horrific Russian invasion of Ukraine will have on the people of Wales, exacerbating the current cost-of-living pressures, and I welcome what the Minister has already said in her commitment so far.

However, to end on a somewhat more positive note, I do welcome the changes made in the final budget, which recognise the need to take actions to ease the current cost-of-living pressure, many of which we on this side have called for. I do hope that we can generally work together across the Chamber to tackle the issues head on.

To conclude, Deputy Llywydd, we stand at an unprecedented time in our history. A long and devastating pandemic, followed by a brutal and absolutely unnecessary war, has left people across Wales wondering what's next. Budgets are more than just numbers on a spreadsheet or complicated financial terms or eye-catching large numbers; they are about what real, tangible change they deliver for people. We in the opposition—