Paul Davies AM, the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Welsh Conservative Assembly Group, has welcomed the announcement today (March 30) from the First Minister to redirect funds to tackle Covid-19 (Coronavirus) – but said that more needs to be done.

He said:

“Last week I called on the First Minister to change the budget, to redirect money to shore up our frontline services and businesses, and I am pleased that he is starting to listen to my calls.

“The UK Government gave Wales an additional £1.5 billion for the forthcoming fiscal year, and a further £1.4bn to combat Coronavirus, some £2.9bn in total.

“The Welsh Government’s £1.1bn announced today consists of only 25 percent of Welsh Government money as the rest is from European funding and the UK Treasury.

“Surely, we must see Ministers re-prioritising their budgets even further as the emergency the country finds itself in cannot be business as usual.

“It is absolutely imperative, therefore, that the Welsh Government immediately brings forward a supplementary budget as the First Minister promised last week.”