Right to look at spending cuts - Welsh Secretary Robert Buckland

Robert Buckland said he supported the mini-budget

The UK government is right to look at potential cuts in public spending, the Welsh Secretary has said.

Sir Robert Buckland said the government made "no apology" for "making sure that the public's money" was being spent efficiently.

The prime minister would not say on Sunday whether she would make cuts.

Liz Truss has admitted she should have "laid the ground better" for her mini-budget after it sparked days of market turmoil.

But she has rejected calls to reverse the tax-cutting package and, in a bid to reassure markets, the UK government will set out its plans to lower public debt in the medium term on 23 November.

Speaking from the party conference in Birmingham on the BBC Politics Wales programme, the Welsh secretary also gave his backing to the mini-budget.

He said the UK government was "absolutely right to double-down on its plan for growth".

The Conservative MP also said the government would stick to its current three-year spending plans but that it was "right to look to see whether more efficiencies can be made" in public spending.

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High inflation is also eating away at those spending plans, with the Welsh government estimating its budget over the next three years would be £4bn lower than originally announced as a result of higher costs.

"I accept that inflation is having an effect, which is why I think it's incumbent on all spending departments to really have a rigorous look at their priorities to make sure that we are prioritising the frontline, prioritising those in greatest need, and making sure that the public's money...is being spent in the most efficient possible way," Sir Robert added.

Former minister Michael Gove said the cut to the highest rate of income tax for people earning over £150,000 displayed the "wrong values", and signalled he wouldn't vote for it.

But the Welsh Secretary told Politics Wales he supported the 45p cut because the government was also raising corporation tax on the banks and had introduced a windfall tax on the oil and gas industries.

The Sunday Times claimed the chancellor discussed confidential plans for the economy with financiers at a private champagne reception held in the hours after his mini-budget.

Kwasi Kwarteng is reported to have been "egged" on by hedge fund managers, who might gain from a crash in the pound.

In a BBC interview PM Liz Truss admitted she should have "laid the ground better" for her mini-budget

Conservative party chairman Jake Berry said the chancellor had not shared any insights at the party.

Sir Robert Buckland said it was a "routine event involving people who have in the past made donations to the Conservative Party".

He added: "I don't think it's right to dress it up as some sort of unprecedented intervention, which then caused the chancellor to act in a certain way.

"I think that would be a misreading of it. I do not believe it has any bearing, whatsoever, on the decisions made by the chancellor."

Around a fifth of Welsh households use oil or liquefied gas to heat their homes as they are not on the gas grid.

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They will not benefit from the two-year reduction in the cost per unit of gas and electricity prices, which came in to effect on Saturday.

Instead, they have been offered a £100 payment on top of a £400 payment, which is going to all UK households.

The Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, Fay Jones, has said the £100 payment would "not touch the sides".

Mr Buckland said the government would "keep the matter under review".