Responding to comments made by the Finance Minister on BBC Politics Wales, Welsh Conservatives have reiterated calls for extra funding to be made available to councils to support Welsh families with the cost of living crisis.
Speaking on Politics Wales, the Finance Minister disappointingly said that her intentions are for the extra funding to be put into reserves at the start of the financial year.
Welsh Conservatives have called for the £25 million in consequentials from the doubling of Household Support Fund to be provided to local councils in Wales in order to provide further support to ease the cost of living crisis.
In his Spring Statement, the Chancellor announced the doubling of the Household Support Fund for local councils to support the most vulnerable in society, it is therefore vital that this funding is allocated to local councils in Wales.
Commenting on the news, Welsh Conservative and Shadow Finance Minister, Peter Fox MS, said:
“I am extremely disappointed by the Finance Minister’s comments. This funding should be rolled out urgently to ease the burden of the rising cost of living, not be stored away in Welsh Government coffers.
“While the Prime Minister has suggested that more funding will be made available to combat the rising cost of living, Labour ministers are hoarding money away. This is not the first time the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay has withheld money provided by the UK Government to support hard working families in Wales, but it must be the last.
“Labour ministers need to acknowledge the fact that more action needs to be taken now rather than later.”
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