'Communities will see real benefits that improve lives and create opportunities'

- First Minister

- RUTH MOSALSKI and ABBIE LLEWELYN

FIRST Minister Eluned Morgan has welcomed Rachel Reeves' spending review.

"This spending review shows what can be achieved when governments work together," she said.

"Wales will see significant extra investment in rail infrastructure, coal tips safety and Welsh communities will see real benefits that improve lives and create opportunities."

Ms Morgan insisted that the UK Government gave "every penny" of funding requested for coal tip repairs.

"We got every penny we asked for in relation to coal tips. You've got to be able to absorb this money in the timeframe, have people to do the work, and they've really come up with the goods," she said.

Ms Morgan said they had assessed the expertise and resources available which would avoid overcommitting and potentially having to return money at the end of the review period if it had not been spent.

She said the detail and impact on Wales of Rachel Reeves' spending review was being assessed by the Welsh Government, but she said the figures were "good news."

"My general reaction is that £5bn extra over three years is pretty good news," she said.

"The fact they've put the NHS as a priority means we get a very significant consequential, which means we can spend it on what we want to, and obviously we have to consider that, but chances are we will want to spend a lot of that on health as well.

"It just means we're able to breathe after a long period of time.