NDM8713 Welsh Conservatives Debate - Welsh Government response to UK Government budget

NDM8713 Darren Millar (Clwyd West)

To propose that the Senedd:

1. Believes that the UK Government’s Autumn Budget breaks Labour’s manifesto commitment to not raise taxes on working people.

2. Regrets that many pensioners will have to choose between eating and heating as a result of the withdrawal of winter fuel payments.

3. Recognises that the increase in employer national insurance contributions will make it harder for businesses to employ and retain staff.

4. Expresses its disappointment that the UK Government’s budget has failed to deliver either the electrification of the North Wales main line or Barnett consequentials from the HS2 project for Wales.

5. Calls on the Welsh Government to:

a) use funding arising from the Autumn Budget to support reducing NHS waiting lists and strengthen social care services across Wales;

b) deliver support to Welsh pensioners through the winter months via the establishment of a Welsh winter fuel allowance;

c) increase investment in the Welsh education system to improve learner outcomes in our schools;

d) protect farmers by supporting the case to maintain agricultural property relief and business property relief for inheritance tax purposes; and

e) stand up for Wales by seeking a new, needs based funding formula to replace the Barnett formula.

The following amendments were tabled:

Amendment 1 Jane Hutt (Vale of Glamorgan)

Delete all and replace with:

To propose that the Senedd:

1. Welcomes:

a) the UK budget and the additional £1.7 billion funding for Wales; and

b) the additional funding for coal tip safety and the increase in capital funding for infrastructure investment.

2. Recognises this is a first step towards repairing the damage inflicted by the previous UK Government on public services and public finances.

3. Notes that the Welsh Government will:

a) publish its draft budget in December, setting out how it will support Wales’s priorities and public services, including the NHS, schools and local government; and

b) continue to work with the UK Government to secure fair rail funding for Wales and improved budget flexibilities.

If amendment 1 is agreed, amendments 2, 3, 4 and 5 will be de-selected.

Amendment 2 Heledd Fychan (South Wales Central)

Add as new point at the start of motion and renumber accordingly:

Regrets the profound damage caused to Welsh public finances and services by fourteen years of austerity under the previous Conservative UK Government and the fallout from the October 2022 mini budget.

Amendment 3 Heledd Fychan (South Wales Central)

Add as new point after point 1 and renumber accordingly:

Regrets the failure to scrap the cruel two-child benefit cap which directly contributes to the shocking prevalence of child poverty in society. 

Amendment 4 Heledd Fychan (South Wales Central)

Delete point 4 and replace with:

Expresses its disappointment that the UK Government’s budget failed to include any HS2 consequential funding for Wales, provided no new money for rail electrification projects, and reduced the departmental comparability factor for UK rail spending relative to Wales even further, which will exacerbate the systematic underinvestment of Wales’s rail network.

Amendment 5 Heledd Fychan (South Wales Central)

Add as new point after point 4:

Expresses disappointment at the inaction of the current Labour UK Government on devolving the Crown Estate to enable Wales to benefit from the wealth of its own natural resources.

Amendment 6 Heledd Fychan (South Wales Central)

Add as new point at the end of the motion:

Calls:

a) on the Welsh Government to make representations to the UK Government to scrap the two-child benefit cap without delay;

b) for a fair funding deal for local authorities in the upcoming Welsh budget to ensure their finances are not adversely affected by the rise in employer national insurance contributions; and

c) on the Welsh Government to utilise the additional money it received from the autumn budget to reverse the cut to business rate relief announced in April.