Welsh NHS and schools underperforming, says respected think tank

Wales' health and education systems are underperforming compared with England despite significant increases in spending, according to a major think-tank. A report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that despite recent falls waiting lists remain far higher than before Covid struck, and school absences remain 50% higher than in 2019. But it said that funding plans of funding from the UK government mean whoever wins the Senedd election would struggle to maintain, let alone improve, services. The Welsh government said it was continuing "to work closely with health boards and local authorities to improve frontline public services at a time that costs are rising". There have been improvements in examinations since 2024, it said, and the longest NHS waits "are coming down". David Phillips of the IFS said the causes of poor performance in Welsh public services were "not fully clear", and more work was needed to diagnose the reasons. He said funding levels "seem unlikely to be a major factor given spending in Wales is higher than comparable areas of England" and high levels of deprivation "can likely only explain part of it too". "Instead, policies and the way services are del