Carwyn Jones called on the Tories to spell out what cuts they would make to ringfence NHS spending First Minister Carwyn Jones has challenged Welsh Tories to spell out what they would cut to meet their pledge to protect Wales’ health budget.
Welsh Conservative leader Nick Bourne is warning frontline NHS services will be hit under the assembly government’s draft budget cut of 7.6% in real terms.
Mr Bourne said he would be prepared to see a 20% reduction in education spending to ringfence the NHS budget.
Welsh Lib Dems said ministers needed to address a £1bn “misspend” in the NHS.
Assembly government ministers say they have done their best to protect health within the draft budget announced on Wednesday.
It will take a cut of 7.6% after inflation over three years.
Education and local government face reductions of between 7% and 8%, over the same time.
Hardest-hit were economy and transport and the environment and housing departments. Their funding is cut by a fifth over three years.
Welsh Conservatives responded by expressing surprise that the draft budget by the Labour-Plaid Cymru coalition at Cardiff Bay did not ringfence the health budget.
Mr Bourne told BBC Wales Today of the 7.6% cuts on the health budget: “We would protect that, and we’re looking at different ways of doing that.
“One way, which I’m surprised they haven’t taken, is to freeze higher salaries in the public sector. I think that’s an obvious thing to do.
Mr Bourne accepted that ring-fencing the health budget would mean cuts of “about 20%” in other budgets such as education.
He said: “I think parties have to set out their priorities, and we’ve been absolutely clear that our priority is to protect the health budget, it’s of crucial importance to Wales, and I can’t believe the Labour party is actually saying it’s going to cut the health budget – because that’s what’s happening.
“We would protect it, and that’s one way we would do it.”
First Minister Carwyn Jones responded: “At last, some clarity from the Conservatives – in order to protect health to the extent they want to, they want hammer schools’ budgets.
Nick Bourne said the Conservatives would protect Wales’ health budget “Unlike them we are a responsible government and have protected health budgets while ensuring there is also sufficient money for schools right across Wales.
“I challenge them to lay out exactly which other services they would cut.”
Welsh Lib Dems finance spokesperson Peter Black, AM for South Wales West Wales, said the assembly government had “tried to protect health services” but ministers had not “done anything to address the £1bn that is being misspent”.
He told Radio Wales: “There has been some attempt at ringfencing by keeping it flatlining – no change in cash terms – but in a sense this is a side issue.
“The issue is how we spend that money and what the outcome are from spending that money.
“Wales still has worse outcomes than England and we still have the situation where finance professionals in the health service say that one fifth of that budget is being misspent.
“And unless the assembly government addresses that issue, then this attempt to keep health at roughly the same level is actually going to be for nothing.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.