Autumn Statement: Extra money for Wales no help, says Drakeford

Mark Drakeford said the Autumn Statement "doesn't assist us at all" in preparing the 2024-25 Welsh budget

Extra money for the Welsh government in this week's Autumn Statement "doesn't measure up to the challenge that we face", the first minister has said.

Mark Drakeford said there was just £6m for next year for capital spending on things like school buildings, transport and other infrastructure.

He said the chancellor's statement "doesn't assist us at all" in setting Welsh ministers' 2024-25 budget.

UK ministers have hailed the statement a "substantial" investment in Wales.

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Welsh Labour leader Mr Drakeford was speaking at a news conference held at a British-Irish Council Summit in Dublin on Friday.

The British-Irish Council is made up of ministers from around the UK, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

The summit took place following rioting in the city on Thursday night, which was blamed on far-right protesters, after a stabbing outside a school in which a woman and three children were injured.

Answering questions from BBC Wales, Mr Drakeford said the Autumn Statement, unveiled by Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on Wednesday, "doesn't assist us at all in the hugely challenging business of trying to set a budget for next year".

Using capital funding as an example, rather than day-to-day spending on running public services, he said: "Our capital budget for the Welsh government next year, as a result of the Autumn Statement, is up by £6m.

"That is £6m for everything we need to do in schools, in hospitals, in house building, in transport, in other forms of infrastructure.

"At a time when inflation is eating away at our capacity to do the things we want to do with the sums we already have, to be offered £6m more to do all of that, I'm afraid it simply doesn't measure up to the challenge that we face."

Mr Hunt's cabinet colleague, Welsh Secretary David TC Davies, this week called the Autumn Statement a "substantial direct UK government investment in Wales", putting "more money in the pockets of over a million working people across Wales, with cuts to National Insurance and another increase to the National Living Wage".

"The two new £160m Investment Zones in north-east and south-east Wales and an ambitious commitment to floating offshore wind will encourage business and create jobs, while £5m for transport links in Monmouthshire and £500,000 to support the Hay Festival are important investments in those communities," he said.