Since May 2026 the Senedd has mainly debated the Plaid Cymru Government's first supplementary budget, which the Senedd did not approve, and a second one agreed with Welsh Labour. Members disagreed over funding for additional learning needs (ALN), unallocated money and responsibility for the inherited finances. Fair funding and the Barnett formula were debated in July and October. Council tax referendums and the deferral of revaluation also featured.
The main arguments
Labour's Lynne Neagle and Huw Thomas said the England SEND consequentials should fund ALN in Wales. Finance Minister Elin Jones (Plaid Cymru) said consequentials are for Welsh Ministers to allocate and one-off funding does not strengthen the service. Contributions: [1]
Reform UK's Cai Parry-Jones and Jason O'Connell said Plaid shares responsibility for the finances and cut capital reserves. Elin Jones said pressures were not visible in opposition. Labour's Huw Thomas said the last budget left £120 million of capital for the next Government. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
The Finance Committee, via Chair Sam Rowlands (Welsh Conservatives), noted £246 million of unallocated resource, about four times the four-year average. Labour's Huw Thomas said part of it could fund ALN. Elin Jones said it covers in-year pressures, especially in health. Contributions: [1][2][3]
Plaid's Rhun ap Iorwerth and Elin Jones said the fiscal framework and Barnett formula need reform, with the Greens' Anthony Slaughter in support. Reform's Cai Parry-Jones cited IFS analysis that needs-based funding could cost Wales £1.5 billion a year. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Darren Millar (Welsh Conservatives) backed a new funding mechanism but warned reviewing arrangements carries risk. Labour's Huw Thomas said work should start with Scotland's resistance and wanted larger borrowing powers. Plaid's Alun Cox said Scotland's position is unrelated. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Reform's Cai Parry-Jones proposed referendums on council tax rises above 4.99 per cent, supported by Janet Finch-Saunders (Welsh Conservatives). Plaid's Sarah Cooper-Lesadd called this unfeasible, and Labour's Mike Hedges asked for the calculations behind the figure. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
On 20 October Elin Jones deferred the 2028 council tax revaluation, citing the fiscal position and transition costs. Sam Rowlands welcomed it. Huw Thomas (Welsh Labour) cited Plaid's manifesto promise and expressed disappointment. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Where the parties stand
Reform UK
Reform Members say Plaid shares responsibility for the finances, question unallocated money and reserves, oppose the Barnett motion as grievance politics, and propose council tax referendums above 4.99 per cent. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Welsh Conservatives
Conservative Members say Wales should get fair funding and that Barnett is out of date. They criticise the supplementary budget for lacking business and farming support, and call for council tax caps and referendums. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Welsh LabourShifted
Labour Members press for ALN funding from the SEND consequentials, question Plaid's costings and back the £14 billion rail pledge. They support Barnett reform through negotiation and greater borrowing powers. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
How this has shifted: On 14 July Labour said it would vote against the first supplementary budget over ALN funding. By October it supported a second supplementary budget including £60 million for ALN.
Plaid Cymru
Plaid Members in Government say they inherited a hard financial position and are honouring the January budget. They seek a fairer funding settlement, more fiscal flexibility and have deferred council tax revaluation. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Welsh Liberal Democrats
Jane Dodds opposes tax cuts, welcomes the £1 bus fare, asks about higher borrowing powers and supports greater fiscal flexibility. She wants costings for childcare before the summer recess. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
Wales Green Party
Anthony Slaughter supports the motion on fiscal arrangements and borrowing powers, said rejecting the ALN allocation would play politics with school funding, and called for a climate shock fund. Contributions: [1][2][3]
What the government is being pressed on
1Labour asked how much would go to ALN. Elin Jones said the consequentials sit within the full budget and one-off funding is not the answer. She later set out £40 million this year and at least £80 million over two years. Contributions: [1][2][3]
2Darren Millar asked whether £145 million for the NHS would permanently cut waiting times. Huw Thomas asked for the latest in-year health overspend position. Elin Jones said unallocated money is held for health pressures, and an official said the NHS needs outcome targets. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
3Members asked whether council tax revaluation would leave households worse off, and for a cap on rises. Elin Jones deferred revaluation, citing transition funding and fiscal pressures, and noted the previous Government had also delayed it. Contributions: [1][2][3][4]
4Reform's James Evans and Iain McIntosh asked what Plaid would change in Barnett and which reforms it seeks. Elin Jones pointed to opacity, no dispute process independent of the Treasury and the HS2 classification. Contributions: [1][2][3]
5Iain McIntosh asked what measurable outcomes attach to major allocations and how budget documents will become more transparent. An official said outputs and outcomes should be clearer and more detail would come in the autumn budget. Contributions: [1][2][3]
What the public is asking for
A petition asking for the full ALN consequential funding to be allocated has closed with 11,451 signatures. A petition to backdate council tax discounts for dementia to GP certification is open with 37 signatures.
Who ministers are meeting
The published ministerial meetings on this subject were all with UK Treasury figures: the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (three entries) and the Chancellor of the Exchequer (two entries).
In the Sixth Senedd (2021 to 2026)
From the previous Senedd's record, for issues that run across both. The rest of this analysis covers the Seventh Senedd only.
In the Sixth Senedd, public finances debate centred on annual draft and final budgets shaped by deals between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru or the Liberal Democrats. Members repeatedly criticised the Barnett formula, reserve and borrowing limits and the HS2 classification. Devolved taxes and council tax revaluation also featured.
In February 2024 Labour's Mike Hedges and independent Rhys ab Owen said it made no sense that councils could move money in and out of reserves but the Welsh Government could not. Minister Rebecca Evans cited rigid reserve and borrowing limits. Contributions: [1][2][3]
In March 2024 Plaid's Rhun ap Iorwerth called for the Barnett formula to be eradicated. In 2023 the Conservatives' Peter Fox cited the 2016 fiscal framework's needs-based element, and Labour's Mike Hedges argued HS2 spending should generate consequentials. Contributions: [1][2][3]
In January 2022 Plaid's Llyr Gruffydd said the co-operation agreement secured free school meals and free childcare. In January 2026 the Conservatives' Natasha Asghar criticised the final budget as a Labour-Plaid back-room deal. Contributions: [1][2]
In 2023 the Conservatives' Peter Fox said about £4 billion of the Welsh budget came from devolved taxes. In January 2026 the Liberal Democrats' Jane Dodds asked why income tax-varying powers had gone unused for six years. Contributions: [1][2]
Written by AI on 30 October 2026 from 233 contributions in the Senedd between 19 May 2026 and 22 October 2026, with the petitions and ministers' meetings on this brief. Each point links to the contributions it draws on; check them before quoting. How the analysis is written.
Where things stand
Statistics published by the Welsh Government. Each chart covers the years since the 2016 Senedd election, or as far back as the figures go, and marks each election since.
Average Band D council tax
£2,283
2026-27
A year earlier
£2,170(2025-26)
The average yearly council tax for a Band D home in Wales, including the parts for the council, the police and any community council, by financial year.
Band D is the band used to compare council tax between areas and years. Each year's figure is set before the year starts in April, and isn't adjusted for inflation.
Use our devolved tax levers to support essential public services, and design our taxes to support our goals, including helping home buying, and reducing waste in landfill.
Pursue fiscal reform, including fairness in the way Wales is funded, the operation of the Barnett Formula, greater fiscal flexibilities, fair funding of devolved powers, and further responsibilities for the Senedd over taxes in Wales.
Fight for the rail funding we are owed and that we need to invest in Welsh rail – including consequential funding from HS2 – and for rail to be devolved.
Deliver a national programme to secure and restore disused tips, ensuring every tip is properly monitored, maintained, and managed. We will continue to insist that the UK government funds this work properly and in full.
Establish a Wales‑wide strategy on remediating contaminated land to map, prioritise and progressively restore post‑industrial land so communities are no longer exposed to derelict sites, toxic soils, and polluted waterways. We will continue to press the UK government to fund this restoration.
Source: Welsh Government, Programme for government 2026 to 2030: New ambition for Wales, first published on 10 September 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Mentions are found by matching the names of plans, bodies and schemes; a mention says nothing about progress.
From the Welsh Government
The Welsh Government's latest press releases and Cabinet statements on this brief.
Welsh Government urges Chancellor to speed up delivery of £14 billion rail pledge, as current funding covers just 1% of Network Rail's spend across England and Wales.
Key moments in the Senedd
Statements, debates and legislation in Plenary on this brief, newest first. Oral question sessions are counted in the contributions below.
How these votes work: the Senedd first votes on the motion as written. If that fails, it votes on each amendment in turn, then on the motion with any agreed changes.
Votes are tagged from their own titles and the agenda item they were held under.
Each bar is the share of that party's speeches and questions in the Sixth Senedd that touched this brief, so large and small parties can be compared. The upright line marks the chamber as a whole: 1.8%.
Ministers' meetings with outside organisations and their engagements on this brief, from the register the Welsh Government publishes every three months. 5 since the 2026 election; the latest:
17 September 2026
Bilateral between Cabinet Minister for Finance Welsh Government and Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Meeting, Cabinet Minister for Finance
22 July 2026
PW/CMF - Call with the Chancellor
Meeting, Cabinet Minister for Finance
22 July 2026
Chancellor of the Exchequer
Meeting, First Minister of Wales
30 June 2026
Briefing from Minister for Armed Forces and Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Meeting, Cabinet Minister for Finance
16 June 2026
Introductory virtual meeting with Chief Secretary to the Treasury
37% of Welsh adults said levels of taxation would be very important to their vote.
Ipsos asked 747 Welsh adults aged 16+ between 2 April 2026 and 8 April 2026, before the 2026 Senedd election. People could choose as many issues as they liked. More on public opinion.
Written questions
68 written questions to the Welsh Government on this brief in the Sixth Senedd, 66 answered so far. The latest:
Contributions tagged in each month of the Sixth Senedd. No sittings were held in August 2021, August 2022, August 2023, December 2024, February 2025, March 2025, April 2025, May 2025, June 2025, July 2025, August 2025, September 2025, October 2025, November 2025 and December 2025.Show the numbers
Month
Contributions
May 2021
1
June 2021
17
July 2021
31
August 2021
No sittings
September 2021
44
October 2021
19
November 2021
31
December 2021
32
January 2022
54
February 2022
55
March 2022
86
April 2022
14
May 2022
41
June 2022
66
July 2022
37
August 2022
No sittings
September 2022
61
October 2022
69
November 2022
98
December 2022
How this brief is put together
This brief follows the Programme commitments listed above and tags the record with the phrases below. Keyword matching can miss business that discusses the issue in other words, and can tag a passing mention.
Show the phrases it uses
A contribution is tagged when its English text contains one of these phrases. Capital letters don't matter, except in abbreviations, which must match exactly. It is also tagged when the title of the agenda item or question it was part of contains one, as long as the contribution is at least 30 words long. The brief is also tagged whenever one of its themes is.
