In response to the Welsh budget announcement made today, UNISON Cymru/Wales secretary Margaret Thomas said:
“Under the circumstances, this is a responsible budget proposal from the Welsh government.
“The backdrop of this budget is that Wales has experienced a £1.7bn drop in finances in real terms since 2010/11 at the hands of the coalition government in Westminster.
“Clearly Welsh public services, particularly local government, now face huge challenges and we want to work with the Welsh government and employers to cushion the blow to the public as much as possible.
“We want to ensure that public service funds are spent as responsibly as possible and so we would urge local government to strongly cut back unnecessary spending on areas like consultants, which UNISON believes should be kept to an absolute minimum.
“However, we applaud the Welsh government for their commitment to a publicly owned and financed NHS and the increase in funding. Obviously we need to see exactly how this money will be spent and there is much more that needs to be done, but this is a good start.
“We welcome the Welsh government’s focus on economic growth and job creation. We believe that through this focus the Welsh economy will be better placed to respond to the ongoing financial challenges that we face.
“It was clear that this budget was going to present very harsh challenges for public services in Wales, but through working together with the Welsh government we hope to be able to protect the vital services that communities need as much as possible.”
