Welsh Conservatives criticise draft Budget deal

The Welsh Conservatives have criticised the Budget agreement reached by the Labour government in Wales and Plaid Cymru this week, which will allow the 2026-27 Budget to pass.

While the agreement secures almost £300m of additional investment in Wales’s public services, no more cash is being allocated to agriculture.

Sam Kurtz, shadow rural affairs minister, said: “Yet again Plaid ride to the rescue of Labour in Wales, and yet again there’s nothing for Welsh farmers.”

In contrast, the Welsh Conservatives were committed to increasing the agriculture budget by £100m over the next Senedd term, he said.

It is understood that the draft Budget – which is scheduled to be signed off on 20 January – includes £238m for the launch of the Sustainable Farming Scheme, including a Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) element for farmers not yet ready to enter the new scheme.

By comparison, the BPS Budget for 2025-26 was also £238m.

The “climate change and rural affairs” portfolio has been allocated £908,461 including an inflationary uplift of £11.7m in resources and £5.1m in general capital for 2026-27.

See also: Budget increase for Welsh agriculture welcomed

Ignoring rural Wales

Plaid Cymru has dismissed the criticism from the Welsh Conservatives, saying their Budget offer was based on scrapping Welsh stamp duty, which would have ignored rural communities and caused council tax bills to skyrocket.

Plaid Cymru rural affairs spokesperson, Llyr Gruffydd, said: “Plaid Cymru is hoping to form the next Welsh government, where we have already committed to supporting farmers by giving the sector desperately needed long-term funding certainty.

“We will also commission a review to reduce bureaucracy and red tape for agricultural businesses,” he added.

Additional funding

Elsewhere in the draft Budget, an additional £112.8m has been allocated to local government in 2026-27, an overall 4.5% increase.

Funding for the health and social care Budget will see an extra £180m, equivalent to a 3.6% increase in 2026-27.

A further £120m of capital funding will be available to the next government after the Senedd election to allocate.