UNIONS demanded the Welsh government return to the negotiating table to rectify the “chronic underfunding” of additional learning needs in schools after its supplementary budget fell on Tuesday.

Any future Plaid Cymru budget must include additional learning needs, the TUC Cymru general secretary Laura Doel warned after the nationalist party lost this key first test.

It was the first opportunity for Plaid to review government spending plans since it won in May’s Senedd election, putting an end to 27 years of Labour ruling the legislative body.

“Public services across Wales are desperate for investment whether that be in our hospitals, our council offices, or indeed our schools,” Ms Doel said.

“Public services, and the hard-working staff that make them tick, need adequate investment to continue delivering for the people of Wales.

“The concerns of education unions throughout this process have been clear. The chronic underfunding of additional learning needs provision must be addressed in any future supplementary budget. Wales’s teachers and students deserve nothing less.”

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) came out against the government’s supplementary budget over a pay deal and funding for students with additional learning needs.

Without a majority in the Senedd, Plaid needed cross-party support to pass its spending plans but failed on Tuesday night when 49 MSs voted against their budget.

The supplementary budget had set aside a £247 million of day-to-day spending which had yet to be allocated, while Labour called for £100m to be spent on ALN between now and next April.

Ahead of the vote on Monday, First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth wrote to Labour with a “final proposal” to spend an extra £40m on ALN this year and in each of the next two financial years.

But it was revealed on Tuesday that NAHT Cymru and ASCL Cymru unions were locked in a dispute over a 3.5 per cent pay deal and an “ongoing crisis” in ALN funding.

New Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates MS said Plaid’s budget failure wasn’t “the outcome we wanted, but it’s clear that the funding offered for additional learning needs simply wasn’t enough.”

He said his party had called for Plaid to withdraw their budget and negotiate with unions before bringing back a new budget in the summer with more investment for ALN.

Finance Minister Elin Jones said the supplementary budget “delivered £294m of extra funding to reduce NHS waiting times, expand childcare, and extend free school meals.

“It contained no reductions to existing services. It was about putting additional funding to work where it could make the greatest difference to the people of Wales.”