Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price clashed with First Minister Mark Drakeford in the Senedd after he claimed that the Welsh Government has the available cash to offer nurses an 8% pay rise.
Mr Adam Price claimed that the Welsh Government has sufficient money to offer an 8% pay increase to nurses – more than 3% above what is currently on the table, saying it could use unallocated funding and by drawing down from reserves. In reply, Mr Drakeford accused he could not use a one-off pot of cash to fund long-term pay rises.
The current pay offer from the Welsh government provides around 4.8% uplift on average for NHS staff. To arrive at an 8% initial offer would require an extra £176m in the current financial year.
