During Spokesperson’s Questions to Labour’s Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and the Environment, the Welsh Conservatives challenged the Welsh Labour Government over its spending priorities. With the UK Autumn Budget approaching, they argued that not a single penny of taxpayers’ money can be wasted.
Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and the Environment, Janet Finch-Saunders MS, questioned whether Labour is spending on the right priorities, highlighting that the Welsh Government has allocated £7.5 million to the National Forest for Wales. Mrs Finch-Saunders criticised the Welsh Government’s “overburdensome, costly and top-down bureaucratic processes”, raising concerns that spending on such projects represents poor value for money at a time when public finances are under pressure.
Two years since the Welsh Government said they would produce a set of indicators to measure the development of the National Forest for Wales, none have been published, yet Labour has continued to spend millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money planting trees in Uganda.
Commenting after spokesperson’s questions, Janet Finch-Saunders MS said:
“Money doesn’t grow on trees, but Labour certainly like spending on them, with millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money spent on tree planting in Uganda.
“Labour are squeezing communities and households for tax rises to fund what can only be described as frivolous schemes and vanity projects.
“The people of Wales want to see NHS waiting lists come down, not taxpayers’ money wasted on tree-planting schemes and other projects that fail to reflect the real priorities of Wales.”
ENDS
