Live updates as Welsh Government to publish its draft spending plans for 2023/24

The Welsh Government will announce details of its draft budget for 2023/24 on Tuesday including that social care workers will continue to get the real living wage. Finance Minister Rebecca Evans will announce funding of around £70 million to deliver the commitment as part of the Welsh Government's announcement of its spending plans on Tuesday, December 13.

The budget will outline future Welsh Government spending in key public services in 2023/24 such as health, education, the economy, climate change and the Welsh language. It comes as governments and local authorities warn of huge strain on their purse strings with inflation at a 40-year high and the Bank of England warning the UK faces a two-year recession - the longest since records began.

Welsh local authorities and health boards will be provided with the estimated £70m so that they can implement the independently calculated real living wage uplift - to £10.90 an hour – with social care workers feeling the benefit by June 2023. The uplift will apply to registered workers in care homes and home care in both adult and children’s services. It will also include personal assistants who provide care and support which is funded through a direct payment.

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Minister for Finance and Local Government Rebecca Evans said: "Despite the challenging economic and fiscal context, we remain fully committed to doing all we can to protect the frontline public services that people rely on. I am pleased to be able to maintain our commitment to social care workers, and I will be saying more about how we will protect public services when I announce the full details of the Budget later today.”

The deputy minister for