Labour, Reform UK, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats unite against Plaid Cymru after row over additional learning needs funding
THE NEW Plaid Cymru government faced its first major political defeat on Tuesday when its supplementary budget was rejected by the Senedd.
Labour voted alongside Reform UK, the Welsh Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats against the government following a row over spending for children with additional learning needs (ALN).
The supplementary budget was published in late June and included almost £300 million of additional funding. It would have allocated an extra £145 million to NHS Wales, £40 million to improve school buildings and £20 million to increase the stock of social housing.
However, the government does not have a majority of MSs in the Senedd. This meant that, to pass the budget, Plaid Cymru needed to secure support from other parties. Although it gained the backing of the two Green MSs, this was not enough when the vote took place on Tuesday.
The government lost the vote by 49 votes to 44.
Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar called it “bonkers” to bring the budget to a vote without securing the necessary support, knowing that the Senedd was likely to reject the proposals.
The Welsh Conservatives, Welsh Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK all voted together to defeat the budget.
It was the first Welsh government budget, supplementary or otherwise, to be voted down in the history of the Senedd, showing just how divided Welsh politics has become.
So why did this happen?
Most importantly, Labour had demanded that an extra £100 million be spent on ALN by next April.
The party claimed the money could have come from £340 million allocated to Wales following increased UK Government spending on special educational needs and disabilities in England.
However, Plaid Cymru failed to meet these demands in full, offering an extra £40 million this year and proposing to increase funding by the same amount over the following two years.
If maintained, this would have resulted in £120 million of additional funding over three years, £20 million more than Labour was asking for, but spread across a longer period.
Labour was not satisfied with this offer and voted against the budget, securing its defeat and refusing to support Plaid Cymru’s proposed compromise.
New Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates had urged Plaid Cymru to withdraw the budget and bring it back during the summer recess once a deal had been agreed.
Mr Skates defended Labour’s decision to vote against the package, saying: “What Plaid were asking for was for us to compromise on what’s best for children.”
A joint statement from Welsh Labour local authority leaders also criticised the Welsh Government for implying that there would be no additional funding for ALN if the budget was not passed.
That was the message First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth appeared to give on Tuesday when he said the Welsh Government’s proposed funding for ALN “would not be possible” if the budget was voted down.
Labour warned that this would have “real consequences” for some of the most vulnerable young people in Wales.
The government has also faced criticism from the NAHT and ASCL teaching unions, which have launched a trade dispute over dissatisfaction with a proposed teacher pay award and what they described as a “failure to adequately fund schools” dealing with increasing numbers of pupils with ALN.
However, by voting down the budget, opposition parties have rejected Plaid Cymru’s compromise and potentially delayed any agreement until the autumn, increasing the pressure already faced by schools.
Although existing ALN funding has not been paused, progress towards increasing it has now been significantly delayed.
The defeat also means that the wider NHS and education funding package, which Mr Skates had described as “welcome”, will not be passed in its current form because the measures were presented as one complete supplementary budget.
This means that the row over ALN has also had a knock-on effect on proposed funding for the NHS, school buildings and social housing.
In response to the defeat, the Welsh Government told The Pembrokeshire Herald that it was “committed to supporting children and young people with additional learning needs”.
It defended its position by arguing that the funding allocated to Wales following the UK Government’s SEND spending decisions was intended to help write off historic local authority debts relating to ALN, rather than pay directly for services.
Plaid Cymru’s Finance Minister, Elin Jones, accused Labour of acting as a “destructive opposition” by refusing to vote the budget through.
However, the government restated its commitment to developing a “sustainable, long-term solution” for ALN.
Details of what this package might look like remain unclear, particularly given the increased pressure on Plaid Cymru to secure the support of other parties.
The Senedd’s sole Liberal Democrat MS, Jane Dodds, also voted against the budget.
She said the proposals failed to meet her demands for increased funding for healthcare in Powys hospitals and for patients receiving treatment across the border in England.
Reform UK also voted against the supplementary budget because it failed to meet the party’s red lines, according to spokesperson Cai Parry-Jones.
These included stopping overseas spending, guaranteeing jobs for all newly qualified student nurses and midwives, and making further commitments on ALN funding.
Reform’s Welsh leader used the defeat as an opportunity to declare that “Plaid Cymru cannot govern this country”.
This was Reform UK’s first major opportunity to demonstrate its new influence in the Senedd as the second-largest party, and it did so during an historic vote.
It was the first time a Welsh government budget had been rejected by the Senedd, only months after a century of Welsh Labour dominance was brought to an end.
What happens next?
What happens next remains unclear.
If an agreement can be reached, the Senedd could return during the summer recess to vote on a revised budget.
However, it may not be until the autumn that a workable funding package is agreed.
This means that additional ALN funding will not arrive for the time being, while the wider spending promised for the NHS, schools and housing will also be delayed.
All opposition parties have criticised the Welsh Government for failing to properly engage with them and negotiate a deal before bringing the budget to a vote.
Given the historic nature of Tuesday’s defeat, it is clear that something went wrong in the operation of the new government.
That is why the First Minister has promised an “even more cooperative approach”, something that will be essential if Plaid Cymru is to deliver the change it promised the people of Wales in May.
