Written- The Welsh Assembly Government Budget 2007-08

 To support the spreadsheets for the final budget I attach the following additional information to give clarification.

Major Investments since 2004

• £670 million investment in school buildings
• £750 million investment in hospitals and GP surgeries
• £127 million for Crime Fighting Fund
• £30 million for free prescriptions
• £76 million for a new deal for the disabled
• £9.8 million annually for free school breakfasts

£736 million growth already built into 2007-08 Budget, including:

• £31 million into Adult Social Care 
• £4.2 million into Health Challenge Wales
• £6 million for Food and Nutrition in Schools
• £6 million for Sport and Active Wales 
• £22 million for Early Years and Support for Children
• £12 million for 14-19 Learning
• £5 million for Higher Education ‘Reaching Higher’
• £10 million for Community Regeneration
• £12 million for Fire and Rescue Service
• £10 million for Social Housing Grant
• £8 million for Waste Strategy

Extra £74 million in New Allocation for 2007-08 as amended in the draft, including:

• £1.5million new revenue funding for Ebbw Vale railway 
• £15 million annually for capital investment in local roads
• £1 million Wales Coastal Path  
• £5 million  for Dentistry
• £9 million for Local Health Boards
• £9 million for Local Authorities to provide
• Special Education Needs (6m)
• migration and asylum pressures (0.5m) 
• funding foster care allowances (2.5m)
• £7 million for FE pay
• £7 million  for capital investment in schools
• £4 million for Extra Care Housing, Disabled Facilities Grant, Gypsy Sites and Secure Accomodation.
• £2 million extra for Children and Family Court Service

Additional allocations of £14.4 million in the final budget as a response to representations and considerations of pressures:

• £2 million to help schools meet the increased cost of energy
• £2 million to provide core funding to hospices
• £6 million to help higher education institutions meet the costs of charity
• commissioned research and equal pay
• £1.5 million to combat domestic abuse, support and provide refuges, children’s services and sexual abuse counselling
• £1 million to support more play facilities for disabled children
• £0.5 million to increase provide extra support for foster carers
• £1.4 million to meet the cost of pensions for fire fighters
  

Notes:

Ambulance Capital is in place to respond to the recent review by the Auditor General.

Local Authorities should be expected, in their budget planning and allocation, to limit their assumptions of efficiency gains by schools in 2007-8 to a maximum of  0.3%. This should ensure that any efficiency gain is focussed on the non-teaching activities in schools such as procurement.

As a result of representations made from outside of the Assembly we are proposing to provide an extra £2 million for the revenue funding of hospices.   The Assembly Government will have completed a review of palliative care by early next year and we will use this review to inform the distribution of the £2 million.