But the money has to come from the overall budget - which is determined by the UK Government, isn't it? You can't escape the fact that until and unless Wales becomes totally self-sufficient what it does and how it acts are utterly constrained by those who hold the purse strings - the UK Tory government.
I think you're missing the point, sadly. The Welsh Govt has directed more and more money into the NHS, yet it is getting worse and worse. That's the question that needs to be answered.
As an aside, how can Wales ever become self-sufficient when it has such little in the way of tax paying business and such a large welfare state bill?
I don't believe I'm missing any point: the Welsh budget is organised by Main Expenditure Groups (MEGs), which broadly mirror Ministerial responsibilities. MEGs are further broken into Spending Programme Areas and Actions.
The MEGs are:
Health and Social Services
Local Government
Communities and Tackling Poverty
Economy, Science and Transport
Education and Skills
Natural Resources and Food
Housing and Regeneration
Culture and Sport
Central Services and Administration.
Now, the overall budget (which is the main point) is fixed by the UK Tory government. Wales can't change that, so the only options are to reduce funding for some areas at the expense of others. So I ask again: which ones would you cut?
