Plaid and the Welsh Government have agreed a £210m deal ahead of the draft budget

A deal to protect a homelessness programme from budget cuts has been struck between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government.

The £210m budget agreement includes protecting the Supporting People Programme from cuts and an additional £40m for mental health funding over two years. There'll also be £15m for improving north-south links on the A487 and A470 and £3m to develop plans for a third Menai crossing. £2m will go on ending the Cleddau Bridge tolls -currently 75p for a car- but not until 2019/20.

More than 57,000 people receive help every year from the Supporting People Programme, which aims to help vulnerable people live as independently as they can and providing intervention and help to prevent people becoming homeless.

Earlier this month, actor and campaigner Michael Sheen told ITV News of his concerns that funding to the programme would be cut. Sheen's comments came during ITV Wales's week-long in-depth look at homelessness in Wales, which you can read more on here.

The deal also includes £3m to support the design and development of a third Menai crossing. Credit: David Jones/PA Archive/PA Images

Other aspects of the budget deal include:

  • an extra £20m a year for higher and further education,

  • £6m for a young farmers' grant scheme over two years,

  • additional funding for the Welsh language,

  • a £7m development fund for undergraduate medical training in north Wales,

  • £2m to remove the tolls on the Cleddau bridge in Pembrokeshire in 2019-20,

  • £3m to support the design and development of a third Menai bridge crossing

  • a further £2m for the secretariat and investment support for a new 'Arfor' economic region in west Wales,

  • extra money for the National Library, the National Museum and the Welsh Books Council,

  • £2m to help promote music in our schools.

The first stage of the draft Welsh Government budget will be published on Tuesday.