Bevan Foundation outlines priorities for the Welsh Government’s Draft Budget

The Bevan Foundation shares its budget priorities with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language 

Ahead of the publication of the Welsh Government’s Draft Budget the Bevan Foundation has written to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language setting out what it believes should be the Welsh Government’s priorities if it is to invest in solutions to poverty and inequality. 

With living standards stagnant and with one in seven people (15 per cent) sometimes, often or always struggling to afford the essentials, the cost of living crisis has taken a terrible toll on Welsh communities. Increasingly families are resorting to debt to cope, and the crisis is having a lasting impact on people’s mental and physical health. Against this backdrop, the Foundation believes that investing in solutions to poverty and inequality must be key priorities for the Welsh Government in the upcoming Draft Budget.

The Foundation has identified five priorities for the upcoming Draft Budget. They have been chosen because they help to mitigate the immediate effects of high prices on low-income households and offer long-term routes out of poverty and inequality.

1. Protect the Discretionary Assistance Fund
2. Uprate the eligibility criteria and cash value of Welsh benefits in line with inflation
3. Funding for fair free school meals
4. Fund Phase 3 of the Flying Start Expansion
5. Increase investment in social housing to reverse the growth in households living in temporary accommodation

The letter can be accessed in full here. 

A copy of the letter has also been shared with the opposition parties.