11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Diolch yn fawr iawn i chi'ch dau am ddod i mewn heddiw, o dan amgylchiadau lle rydych chi'n mynd trwy newidiadau ar hyn o bryd. Dwi'n ddiolchgar iawn ichi am roi eich amser a'ch argaeledd i ddod atom ni. Roedd gwybodaeth a thrafodaeth ddiddorol iawn yn y…
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Diolch yn fawr. A final question from me, and it's about the Multiply programme. Five hundred and sixty million pounds of the UK shared prosperity fund is allocated to the programme. What's your understanding of how this will be delivered in Wales?
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
And within the local authorities and the bodies that are applying for these funds, do you think we've got the pool of talent of people—the people resource in that pool to be able to deliver these plans, or is it something longer term that we need to look at…
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
You've touched slightly on the question of the UK Government providing support for developing the investment plans. Is that going far enough? Is there enough being done to give the support to fleshing these plans out and doing the detailed work? I appreciate…
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Would I be right in saying that if there was a way of having that rolling over, you'd be very much in favour, to be able to have better quality projects, rather than potentially rushed projects?
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
So, would it be prudent for the UK Government to allow these funds to be rolled over into the following years?
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Thanks, Peter. A couple of final questions from me. The First Minister suggested that application timescales mean that funding will be less well spent. To what extent do you agree with the First Minister's concerns, and how are local authorities preparing…
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Peter.
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Thank you very much. I'd like to go over to Mike Hedges now to ask some questions. There we are.
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Thank you for that. The last question from me for now: the strategic forum for regional investment in Wales suggested the idea that funds have been devolved to local government was a fallacy and that local government is more of an administrator—do you…
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Yes. I mentioned at the start of the meeting that we'd invited the Secretary of State or the Under-Secretary of State to come and give oral evidence to this committee. Do you find that the lack of engagement by UK Government with the Senedd on this issue…
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Yes, of course, Chris.
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Okay. Thank you for that. Conwy County Borough Council notes the challenge local government in Wales faces to build up relationships with the UK Government. How do you assess the current state of those relationships between local authorities in Wales with UK…
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Okay. And with the complexity, do you think that the sector's experience—? As they're applying for the various bids, how have the timescales impacted on the potential quality of the bids, because if you're having to produce a lot of information and produce…
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
You were talking about capacity, and obviously it takes a lot of resource to get these bids in and then possibly they would be unsuccessful. Do you think that that is reflected in the fact that some of the local authorities didn't apply?
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
From what you've seen so far, is it simpler than the applications for the European funding, or at the moment is it too early to tell?
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Okay. Thank you very much. So, how have the processes of these funds compared to the processes you had around the EU funding for local authorities?
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Okay. So, there's a continuous improvement element to it, in that sense.
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Sorry, picking up on your point quickly there, you talked about a competitive process and, in your written evidence, you said that it's inherently wasteful, the competitive process. Is that because of both running at the same time causing issues, or is it…
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
That makes a lot of sense, and obviously you're giving evidence with the knowledge that you've got, and we take that into account—that it could change, going forward, and it's likely to, with different leaders coming through, and that sort of thing. But, yes…
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Diolch am hynny.
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
So, what we'll do is we'll start with some questions and, again, thank you for attending. I want to start this morning to understand how the UK community renewal fund and the first round of the levelling-up fund have been operated. So, a question to one or…
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Diolch yn fawr. Hon ydy'r sesiwn dystiolaeth gyntaf yn ein hymchwiliad i drefniadau ariannol ar ôl gadael yr Undeb Ewropeaidd. Cyn i ni ddechrau, dwi eisiau nodi bod yr Ysgrifennydd Gwladol ar gyfer Codi'r Gwastad, Tai a Chymunedau wedi gwrthod ein gwahoddiad…
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Diolch yn fawr. A Tim.
11 Mai 2022 , Finance Committee
Trefniadau ariannu ar ôl yr UE: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Thank you so much for joining us. Would you mind giving your full names and what you do, for the record, if you please? If we start with Chris.
