The Welsh budget
In 2026-27 the Welsh Government plans to spend £27.2bn on public services and investment in Wales. After allowing for rising prices, that is 9% more than in 2022-23.
Where the money comes from
About four-fifths of the money comes from the UK Government as a single grant, called the block grant. The rest comes from taxes paid in Wales and a small amount of borrowing.
UK Government block grant: day-to-day spending£18.5bn
Money raised through UK-wide taxes and passed to Wales. Pays for running services: staff, grants, supplies.
UK Government block grant: investment£3.6bn
For things that last, such as hospitals, schools, roads and homes, and for loans to businesses.
Welsh rates of income tax£4bn
Part of the income tax people in Wales pay. The Senedd sets the Welsh rates and HMRC collects the tax.
Business rates£1.1bn
Paid on shops, offices, factories and other business premises. The money goes to councils.
Land transaction tax£399m
Paid when you buy a property or land in Wales above a certain price. Collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority.
Landfill disposals tax£37m
A tax on waste sent to landfill, to encourage less waste. Collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority.
Borrowing£150m
For investment only. This is new borrowing less repayments this year; the Government owes £700m in all and pays £24m a year in interest.
Accounting items£2.9bn
Amounts the budget has to include but that aren't money to spend, such as the wearing out of buildings and equipment, and the value of student loans.
How the UK Government decides Wales's share
The block grant is mostly worked out by a rule called the Barnett formula. It doesn't set the whole grant from scratch. It only changes it: when the UK Government changes what it spends on services in England that are run by the Welsh Government in Wales, such as health or schools, Wales gets a share of the change.
That share depends on three things multiplied together: how much the UK Government's spending changed, how far that spending is on services the Welsh Government runs, and Wales's population compared with England's (or England and Wales's, or Great Britain's, depending on the service).
Because needs are higher in Wales, an agreement between the two governments, called the fiscal framework, adds to Wales's share. While funding per person in Wales stays above 115% of the comparable level in England, 5% is added to Wales's share of each change. If it falls to that level, the addition becomes 15%.
When taxes were devolved, the block grant was cut by what those taxes raised in Wales at the time. Wales now keeps what its own taxes raise. If those taxes grow faster per person in Wales than the matching UK taxes, Wales gains; if they grow more slowly, Wales loses out.
Once the grant is set, the Welsh Government decides how to spend it and on what. The Senedd has to approve the budget.
Where the money goes in 2026-27
By Welsh Government department, for day-to-day spending and investment together. Changes are from the 2025-26 final budget.
| Department | Budget | Share | Change | After inflation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Education | £2.5bn | +3.8% | +1.7% | |
| Transport | £1.5bn | +5.4% | +3.3% | |
| Social Justice | £163m | +2.6% | +0.6% | |
| Health and Social Care | £13.6bn | +4.9% | +2.8% | |
| Economy, Energy and Planning | £873m | +3.7% | +1.6% | |
| Housing and Local Government | £7.2bn | +6.4% | +4.3% | |
| Climate Change and Rural Affairs | £950m | +3.5% | +1.5% | |
| Central Services and Administration | £493m | +7.2% | +5.1% | |
| Total | £27.2bn | +5.2% | +3.1% |
Most money for schools reaches them through councils' general grant, so it counts under Housing and Local Government. The Education line is what the Government spends directly, including on further and higher education.
How spending has shifted since 2022-23
By subject, after allowing for rising prices (in 2025-26 prices). Departments are reorganised when ministers' portfolios change, so spending is grouped here by what it pays for, using the programmes beneath each department.
| Subject | 2022-23 | 2026-27 | After inflation | Share of the budget | 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26, 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NHS and health | £11.1bn | £12.7bn | +14.4% | 45.4% → 47.6% | |
| Councils' general funding | £5.2bn | £5.8bn | +10.4% | 21.3% → 21.5% | |
| Colleges, universities and skills | £2.1bn | £1.7bn | −19.4% | 8.5% → 6.3% | |
| Transport | £1.6bn | £1.5bn | −7.6% | 6.5% → 5.5% | |
| Housing and homelessness | £1.1bn | £1.3bn | +18.0% | 4.5% → 4.8% | |
| Schools (direct spending) | £1.1bn | £1.1bn | +1.7% | 4.3% → 4.0% | |
| Environment, farming and rural affairs | £873m | £957m | +9.7% | 3.6% → 3.6% | |
| Social care and children | £437m | £594m | +36.0% | 1.8% → 2.2% | |
| Running the government | £433m | £445m | +2.8% | 1.8% → 1.7% | |
| Economy and business | £124m | £359m | +188.9% | 0.5% → 1.3% | |
| Culture, sport and the Welsh language | £218m | £246m | +13.1% | 0.9% → 0.9% | |
| Communities and equality | £251m | £147m | −41.6% | 1.0% → 0.5% |
What's in each subject
The Government's own programme lines, in 2025-26 prices. A line that starts or stops partway through has usually been renamed, merged or moved; big changes in small subjects are often money moving between lines. For example, City and Growth Deals have their own line from 2025-26, and post-16 education was brought together as Tertiary Education.
NHS and health
| Programme | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delivery of Core NHS Services | £10.7bn | £10.6bn | £11.2bn | £11.9bn | £12.3bn |
| Delivery of Targeted NHS Services | £103m | £142m | £109m | £121m | £119m |
| Support Mental Health Policies and Legislation | £100m | £95m | £85m | £55m | £35m |
| Deliver the Substance Misuse Strategy Implementation | £38m | £54m | £52m | £50m | £49m |
| Develop and Implement R&D for Patient and Public Benefit | £48m | £50m | £48m | £48m | £48m |
| Public Health Programmes | £22m | £23m | £21m | £41m | £43m |
| Support Education and Training of the NHS Workforce | £31m | £34m | £34m | £42m | £29m |
| Health Improvement | £11m | £16m | £11m | £6m | £6m |
| Effective Health Emergency Preparedness Arrangements | £7m | £6m | £9m | £9m | £9m |
| Citizen Voice Body | – | £6m | £8m | £8m | £8m |
| Food Standards Agency | £6m | £5m | £5m | £6m | £5m |
| Support and Delivery of the Animal Health and Welfare Programme/Strategy | £1m | £1m | £1m | £2m | £2m |
Councils' general funding
| Programme | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funding Support for Local Government | £4.8bn | £5.2bn | £4.9bn | £5.2bn | £5.5bn |
| Local Government General Capital Funding | £190m | £238m | £229m | £235m | £230m |
| Early Intervention, Prevention and Support | £190m | – | – | – | – |
| Valuation Services | £18m | £15m | £24m | £24m | £24m |
| Fire and Rescue Services and Resilience | £17m | £9m | £7m | £6m | £8m |
| Building Local Democracy | £3m | £3m | £5m | £5m | £5m |
| Local Government Improvement | £2m | £1m | £1m | £3m | £3m |
Colleges, universities and skills
| Programme | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tertiary Education | – | – | – | £816m | £846m |
| Post-16 Learner Support | £944m | £915m | £845m | £565m | £546m |
| Post-16 Education | £641m | £635m | £599m | – | – |
| Higher Education | £230m | £214m | £194m | – | – |
| Apprenticeships | £132m | £149m | £143m | £144m | £148m |
| Employment and Skills | – | – | – | – | £115m |
| Employability Including Young Persons Guarantee | £111m | £118m | £104m | £114m | £2m |
| Youth Engagement and Employment | £19m | £21m | £19m | £19m | £18m |
Transport
| Programme | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Road, Rail, Air and Sea Services and Investment | £803m | £553m | £500m | £606m | £614m |
| Sustainable Travel | £279m | £333m | £338m | £312m | £343m |
| Motorway and Trunk Road Operations | £221m | £274m | £252m | £305m | £317m |
| Improve and Maintain Trunk Road Network (Domestic Routes) - Non Cash | £213m | £203m | £195m | £189m | £185m |
| Strategic Infrastructure | £44m | £17m | £6m | £6m | £6m |
| Improve Road Safety | £24m | £10m | £9m | – | – |
| Gypsy Traveller Sites | £4m | £3m | £4m | £3m | £3m |
Housing and homelessness
| Programme | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Increase the Supply and Choice of Affordable Housing | £374m | £409m | £378m | £442m | £442m |
| Homelessness Prevention | £46m | £50m | £222m | £219m | £222m |
| Achieve Quality Housing | £244m | £217m | £208m | £205m | £207m |
| Independent Living | £218m | £209m | £28m | £36m | £36m |
| Building Safety | £94m | £151m | £137m | £132m | £132m |
| Homes and Places | – | – | – | £102m | £102m |
| Increase the Supply and Choice of Market Housing | £11m | £72m | £76m | £83m | £81m |
| Regeneration | £37m | £61m | £44m | £32m | £40m |
| Fuel Poverty Programme | £39m | £42m | £41m | £1m | £1m |
| Land Division | £25m | £24m | £15m | £14m | £24m |
| Housing Revenue Funding | £1m | £0m | £0m | £1m | £1m |
Schools (direct spending)
| Programme | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-16 Local Authority Education Grant (LAEG) | – | – | £392m | £401m | £410m |
| Estate and IT Provision | £400m | £402m | £366m | £385m | £409m |
| Education Standards | £197m | £184m | £3m | £3m | £5m |
| Pupil Development Grant | £167m | £153m | – | – | – |
| Wellbeing of children and young people | £126m | £134m | £126m | £131m | £133m |
| Teaching and Leadership | £62m | £58m | £31m | £35m | £35m |
| Curriculum | £38m | £39m | £15m | £24m | £26m |
| Welsh in Education | £20m | £22m | £17m | £6m | £4m |
| Estyn | £13m | £17m | £17m | £17m | £16m |
| Tackling Barriers to Attainment | – | – | £14m | £14m | £14m |
| Pupil Engagement | £10m | £14m | £4m | £4m | £4m |
| Qualifications | £11m | £11m | £11m | £11m | £11m |
Environment, farming and rural affairs
| Programme | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop and Deliver Overarching Policy, Programmes and Investment in Agriculture, Food and Fisheries | – | – | – | – | £404m |
| CAP administration and making Payments in accordance with EU and WG rules | – | £282m | – | – | – |
| Basic Payments and Administration | – | – | £266m | £260m | – |
| CAP administration and making Payments in accordance with EU and WAG rules | £290m | – | – | – | – |
| Sponsor and Manage Delivery Bodies | £82m | £77m | £117m | £138m | £147m |
| Rural Investments | – | – | £102m | £127m | – |
| Develop and Implement Flood and Coastal Risk, Water and Sewage Policy and Legislation | £122m | £116m | £62m | £38m | £45m |
| Increase Resource Efficiency and Support Transition to a Circular Economy | £87m | £102m | £82m | £78m | £73m |
| Rural Economic and Sustainability Programme | £31m | £98m | – | – | – |
| Develop and Implement Climate Change Policy, Energy Efficiency, Green Growth and Environmental Protection | £46m | £55m | £77m | £41m | – |
| Deliver Nature Conservation and Forestry Policies and Local Environment Improvement | £64m | £51m | £66m | £56m | £53m |
| Coal Tip and Reservoir Safety | – | – | – | £44m | £49m |
Social care and children
| Programme | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supporting Children | £124m | £310m | £278m | £328m | £317m |
| Sustainable Social Services | £169m | £155m | £175m | £210m | £205m |
| Integrated Care Fund | £68m | £65m | £63m | – | – |
| Social Care Wales | £29m | £27m | £26m | £26m | £26m |
| Cafcass Cymru | £17m | £16m | £16m | £17m | £17m |
| Care Inspectorate Wales | £16m | £16m | £16m | £16m | £17m |
| Social Care and Support | £8m | £6m | £5m | £5m | £5m |
| Healthcare Inspectorate Wales | £5m | £5m | £5m | £6m | £6m |
Running the government
| Programme | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff Costs | £265m | £257m | £228m | £271m | £288m |
| Running Costs | £70m | £64m | £58m | £80m | £78m |
| Fiscal Responsibilities | £14m | £18m | £25m | £33m | £40m |
| Other Support Services | £30m | £33m | £28m | £5m | £5m |
| General Administration | £11m | £11m | £10m | – | – |
| Delivering the Digital Strategy | £6m | £5m | £4m | £4m | £7m |
| Invest to Save | £4m | £7m | £5m | £2m | – |
| External Bodies and Services | £7m | £7m | £6m | £7m | £7m |
| Commissioners | £6m | £6m | £5m | £6m | £6m |
| Procurement Service | £6m | £6m | £6m | £6m | £5m |
| Statistics, Information and Research | £6m | £5m | £5m | £5m | £5m |
| Resilience and Civil Contingencies | – | £1m | £1m | £2m | £2m |
Economy and business
| Programme | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City and Growth Deals | – | – | – | £111m | £96m |
| Business Wales / Entrepreneurship and Regional Economy | £78m | £65m | £64m | £95m | £93m |
| Economic Infrastructure Development | £19m | £6m | £51m | £85m | £84m |
| Promote and Protect Wales' Place in the World | £25m | £22m | £18m | £35m | £38m |
| Development Bank of Wales | −£22m | £11m | −£32m | – | £10m |
| Innovation | £6m | £6m | £11m | £10m | £10m |
| International | £10m | £9m | £8m | £9m | £9m |
| Planning and Regulation | – | – | – | £9m | £9m |
| Science | £7m | £7m | £6m | £6m | £6m |
| Development Bank Wales | – | – | – | – | £2m |
| Managing European Funding | £2m | £2m | £2m | £2m | £2m |
| Cardiff International Airport | – | – | – | −£1m | −£1m |
Culture, sport and the Welsh language
| Programme | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support for Culture and the Arts | £123m | £133m | £125m | £127m | £133m |
| Welsh Language | £29m | £28m | £28m | £42m | £45m |
| Support the Historic Environment | £31m | £29m | £26m | £34m | £34m |
| Sports and Physical Activity | £34m | £33m | £29m | £33m | £34m |
Communities and equality
| Programme | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supporting Communities | £164m | £63m | £58m | £53m | £51m |
| Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights | £19m | £19m | £17m | £22m | £23m |
| Community Support and Safety | £26m | £25m | £16m | £16m | £16m |
| Advocacy Services | £13m | £13m | £12m | £14m | £16m |
| Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence | £11m | £11m | £11m | £12m | £13m |
| Community Facilities | £7m | £7m | £7m | £12m | £11m |
| Support for the Voluntary Sector | £8m | £8m | £9m | £10m | £10m |
| Reform and Justice | – | – | – | £5m | £5m |
| Criminal Justice Delivery | – | – | – | £1m | £1m |
| Women's Justice and Youth Justice Prints | – | – | £1m | – | – |
| Women's Justice and Youth Justice Blueprints | – | £1m | – | – | – |
| Female Offending and Youth Justice Blueprints | £1m | – | – | – | – |