NDM8518 - Opposition Debate
Tabled on 06/03/2024 | For debate on 13/03/2024To 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.
Tabled By
Amendments
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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.
Tabled By
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.
