NDM8518 Welsh Conservatives Debate - UK government budget
NDM8518 Welsh Conservatives Debate - UK government budget
NDM8518 Darren
Millar (Clwyd West)
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Welcomes the UK Government’s 2024 Budget,
a plan for long term growth, which will see:
a) national insurance contributions cut by
2p, saving the average Welsh worker £450 a year;
b) £168 million of additional Barnett
consequential funding for Wales;
c) £160 million purchase of the Wylfa site;
d) £20 million of funding for Rhyl as part of
the Long Term Plan for Towns;
e) £10 million of funding to Venue Cymru in
Llandudno;
f) £5 million of funding for cultural
facilities in Newport;
g) £5 million of funding to launch an
agri-food launchpad in partnership between Welsh Government and Ceredigion
Council; and
h) £1.6 million of funding towards the
redevelopment of Theatr Clwyd in Mold.
The following amendments were tabled:
Amendment 1 Heledd
Fychan (South Wales Central)
Delete all and replace with:
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Notes that:
a) the Chancellor has announced the 2024 UK
Government Budget;
b) real wage growth and GDP per capita has
increased at its lowest rate since the Second World War under this UK
Government; and
c) tax as a proportion of GDP has increased
to its highest level since 1948 under this UK Government.
2. Regrets:
a) that this Westminster Parliament will be
the first in modern history to oversee a fall in household disposable income
and living standards;
b) the failure to uprate the personal
allowance threshold in line with inflation, which will leave low-income
households worse off and entrench income inequalities;
c) that day-to-day spending for unprotected
UK Government departments is set to fall by 13 per cent over the next five
years, which will have a direct impact on Wales in areas such as justice;
d) that Canary Wharf is set to receive £240
million in Levelling Up Funds, whilst the Welsh Government is set to receive
only £170 million; and
e) that neither the UK Conservative Party nor
the UK Labour Party have committed to a fair funding deal for Wales, nor to
provide Wales with its share of HS2 consequentials.
3. Believes that:
a) Wales's potential is being stifled by a
lack of proper investment in our beleaguered public services and dilapidated
infrastructure; and
b) the 2024 UK Government Budget utterly
fails to address the priorities and needs of the people of Wales.
If amendment 1 is agreed, amendment 2 will be
de-selected.
Amendment 2 Lesley
Griffiths (Wrexham)
Delete all and replace with:
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Regrets that the UK Government Spring
Budget 2024:
a) provides no additional resource funding
for the Welsh Government, other than that already factored into its spending
plans;
b) leaves the Welsh Government’s settlement
for 2024-25 up to £700 million lower in real terms than expected at the time of
the 2021 Spending Review;
c) provides no additional capital funding for
the Welsh Government, leaving its general capital budget in 2024-25 up to 8 per
cent less in real terms than expected at the time of the Spending Review in
2021;
d) ignores the Welsh Government’s core asks
of UK Government investment in coal tip safety and the re-classification of
HS2, including provision of the £270 million Wales will have missed out on by
the end of the current spending period; and
e) fails to provide targeted support to those
on the lowest incomes.
2. Further regrets that:
a) the personal tax rises introduced by this
UK Government from its previous decision to freeze thresholds are larger than
the tax reductions announced in the 2024 Spring budget and 2023 Autumn
Statement combined, and twice as large by 2028-29;
b) the UK Government's overall spending
totals imply no real growth in public spending per person over the next five
years, with no credible plan to deliver the level of public spending they have
outlined;
c) UK living standards are expected to
experience six years lost growth, only returning to pre-pandemic levels in
2025, as measured by gross household disposable income per head; and
d) the UK Government’s levelling up policies leave Wales with less say over less money, while bypassing and actively undermining devolution and this Senedd.
Reason considered: Senedd Business;
Type: For information
First published: 11/06/2024