20 October 2006
The battle lines were drawn this week over the Welsh Assembly's spending plans, as finance minister Sue Essex announced her draft Budget for 2007/08.
Opposition AMs described the plans as an 'unacceptable, insufficient and disappointing Budget' and signalled that they would oppose the Bill.
The coming financial year is the last of a three-year spending plan, and much of the spending had already been announced. But Essex said she had found £74m of funding uncommitted, and that this would be available next year for public services.
An additional £9m would be given to local health boards and £15m for councils to pay for road repairs.
Introducing the draft Budget on October 17, Essex said that over the past three years the Assembly had delivered large-scale capital investment and record levels of spending on frontline public services.
'In the field of education, we will spend an extra £7m each year improving school buildings across Wales and an extra £2.5m a year will go to developing the early years education,' she said.
PFoct2006