Business and Budget Minister Jane Hutt confirmed yesterday that £49m of emergency funds will be used to maintain current plans for capital spending.

She said:  “We will not be following the recent example of the UK Government in cancelling major capital projects because this would be damaging to jobs and services as well as economic recovery.

“The Welsh Assembly Government brought forward spending on major capital projects in the past 2 years to help the construction industry through the recession and believes that cutting such spending could jeopardise the recovery.

“We have made it clear that our priority is to protect and improve the public services that people rely on whilst continuing to lead Wales into economic recovery.  Continuing capital investment is key to delivering this.

“We will be using our EYF (End of Year Flexibility) to cover the £49 million reduction we face in the capital programme.  This means we can continue to deliver our ambitious programme of investment in our schools, hospitals, housing projects and other key areas.

“Such projects include a range of affordable housing, adapations to homes for people with disabilities, Extracare housing for older people, hostels for the homeless and women’s refuges.

“We have invested £587m on NHS capital developments and equipment over the past 2 years and the Health Minister will be making an announcement about further capital investment in the NHS in the coming weeks.

“We will also continue to invest in our 21st century schools programme and the Education Minister will be making a major funding announcement on capital projects which will ensure that schools can deliver a 21st century curriculum in modern facilities.”