From
the BBC» :
Young people aged 16 to 21 will be able to ride for £1 on buses across Wales as part of a budget deal between Welsh Labour and the Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds.
Announced on Thursday, the deal worth more than £100m will also see extra money which officials hope will complete the roll out of universal childcare to two-year-olds.
It means the Welsh government's £26bn spending plans for the NHS, education and other public services will pass in the Senedd next month, and includes a ban on greyhound racing and cash for local councils.
Dodds said the agreement "is a positive step in making Wales the fairer and more prosperous country I want it to be".
Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford added: "The additional investment will make a real difference to communities across Wales, particularly in rural areas."
Meanwhile, the government has announced an extra £4m for arts and culture bodies following criticism of cuts in previous years.
The Welsh Conservatives said the budget for 2025-26 "will not fix Wales" and called for a winter fuel allowance for older people in Wales.
Under a £15m pilot scheme, people aged 16 to 21 will be able to travel anywhere in Wales for any journey for £1, with unlimited day tickets for £3.
It will run for one academic year, from this September.
Young people have so far welcomed the deal as some say they find current bus prices too expensive, including one student who said she spent up to £50 a week on bus fares.
A-level student Elinor Lewis travels from Cardiff to Coleg y Cymoedd in Nantgarw, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and says it has been "eating up her savings just to get a bus. I'd be really happy if they could reduce costs even by a fraction, it would make a big difference to my life," she said.
Fellow Coleg y Cymoedd student Cavan Griffin, 17, said he didn't think the bus service warrants the prices charged and that it was too costly for students on minimum wage. "I take the bus to work and that costs me £6.50, which is minimum wage for my pay, so it costs me an hour of work to take the bus," he said. "Buses are always late, they are cancelling routes all the time, it's ridiculous for us to pay such high prices when the service is sub-par."
Keri Lloyd-Jones is a hairdressing student at Coleg Menai in Bangor, Gwynedd. She said the the fare would be a big help to her, as she takes six buses every day to get from Abersoch to college. She said: "This would help me so much as I live in Abersoch and I take six buses a day, so this £1 would be so much help...£3 a day would save me even more money."
With Labour holding 30 of the Senedd's 60 seats, Welsh government ministers need the help of at least one opposition politician to get its budget passed in the Senedd when it comes to a vote in March.
Until last summer it had relied on a deal with Plaid Cymru. Both Plaid and the Tories say they will oppose the budget. Under the budget, nine local authorities will benefit from a boost to their funding, worth £8.24m, ensuring no council receives less than 3.8% extra in cash next year.
While overall council funding was raised by 4.3%, because of the way the formula for funding works some authorities would see less, with Monmouthshire receiving an increase of 2.8% and Powys and Gwynedd 3.2% each.
The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) leader, Labour's Andrew Morgan, said: "Over a decade of cuts by previous governments cannot be undone overnight in a single budget. But this settlement is a decisive step in the right direction."
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