Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:37 pm on 22 November 2022.
So, I think I'll take the opportunity very early in this question session to say the additional funding that the Welsh Government has been given—£1.2 billion over the next two years—will not fill the big gaps in our budget. I will make that really clear. We face some very difficult choices as Ministers as we bring forward next year's budget. We will continue to prioritise our budgets to shield the most vulnerable and maintain our commitment to create a stronger, fairer and greener Wales. We're going to have to very carefully consider the detail from last week's autumn statement, and I know the Minister for Finance and Local Government is clearly doing that as we go towards the publication of the draft budget next month. Our overall settlement over the three-year spending review period—so, that goes from 2022 to 2025—is still worth less in real terms than it was at the time of the spending review last year. So, we've got the amount of funding that you mentioned, the Minister for Finance and Local Government will be having, no doubt, bilaterals with every Minister as we bring forward next year's budget. The amount of funding set aside for school budgets is obviously for local authorities to determine, and Welsh Government, obviously, doesn't fund schools directly, as you know. And, again, those discussions around funding for local government will obviously have an impact on the education budget too.