THE public expected free prescriptions and free school breakfasts to be protected from spending cuts, First Minister Carwyn Jones said today on the eve of his 100th day in the job.

He said ministers were going through departmental spending "line by line" to prepare for next year's budget, due to be published in the autumn.

Asked about free prescriptions, introduced in 2007, the Welsh Labour leader said: "We are not going to touch free prescriptions.

"If you look at what people have found most beneficial to them they will talk about free bus passes, they will talk about free school breakfasts, they will talk about free prescriptions.

"Those are the areas that I think members of the public will expect us to protect."

The Welsh Conservatives have attacked the Assembly Government's free primary school breakfasts scheme and would reintroduce some prescription charges, spending the money raised on hospices and services for stroke patients.

After years of rising funding from the Treasury, which took the annual budget of Wales's devolved administration to more than £15 billion, Mr Jones said some "very tough decisions" now had to be made.

"We've had very good years," he said.

"This will be the first year where we will have to adopt scenarios that suggest we are going to see a cut in our budget.

"But we've got to get on with the job, there's no point in complaining about it. People put us in this position and elect us to this position to deal with the bad times as well as the good."

People expected to see a "logic" behind spending decisions and wanted valuable services in health and education protected.

"It's going to be very, very difficult. We are going to have some very tough decisions to make," he added.

He said the forthcoming general election made it impossible to predict the date of a referendum on whether to give the Assembly full law-making powers.

The offer of a referendum before devolved elections in May next year is a key part of Labour's coalition deal with Plaid Cymru.

Talking to journalists in his office in Cardiff Bay, Mr Jones said a hung Parliament might force another election in the autumn.

"That obviously has an impact on any potential timing of a referendum in the autumn," he said.

"So we won't be able to take a clear view on the timing of a referendum until after we know the outcome of the election.

"As I've always said we are looking to keep open all options from October onwards."

Speculation that the issue would break the coalition had proved unfounded, he said, pointing to the unanimous vote of AMs last month which formally triggered the referendum process.

Opposition leader Nick Bourne said: "Carwyn Jones's first 100 days as First Minister can be summed up in one word – complacency.

"He was complacent over the Assembly referendum, and remains complacent over the state of the economy, the state of the health service, and the state of our schools.

"People need to ask themselves: 'What has changed under Carwyn Jones's lacklustre leadership?'

"Over the last 100 days he has failed to make his mark or set Wales on a new direction, away from the policies which have failed this country over the last 11 years."