The Welsh Government has issued its response to Jeremy Hunt's budget and addressed the pledge to offer 30 hours of free childcare to working parents of children over the age of nine months in England. Wales is receiving an extra £180m as a consequence of the spending decisions in England.
Wales' finance Minister Rebecca Evans condemned the budget statement saying it was a "less than bare minimum Budget". The same words were used on Twitter by First Minister Mark Drakeford who said the Chancellor had "fallen short in addressing the real challenges people are facing. He had the financial levers and capacity to provide comprehensive and meaningful support but chose not to meet the scale of the task ahead."
But the Welsh Government stopped short of committing to offer the same level of support to working parents in Wales that the UK Government is going to introduce in England. Mr Hunt is expanding England's free childcare offer, which currently only applies to children aged over three before they start school. It will be rolled out to all children over nine months old if both their parents are in work. See more detail here. Mr Hunt said the change would reduce childcare costs by around 60%.
