, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2027-28: Evidence Session
Great. This seems to be a recurring ask. Is it possible to provide it to us without us asking?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2027-28: Evidence Session
Great, thank you. And then just on staffing, just obviously because it's such a big part of the budget—it's 70 per cent of the Commission's operating revenue expenditure, which is a lot—could we ask for more details in the budget? So, I know that the public…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2027-28: Evidence Session
Also on the new staff and the 75 positions, is it possible for you to provide us with a breakdown, by function and pay range, and identify the specific additional workload that justifies each post?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2027-28: Evidence Session
On the new staff mentioned, quote, 'evidenced need', is it possible for you to share that evidence with us? After the meeting, obviously.
, Plenary
Debate: Fiscal Reform
Before I get into the meat of this debate, I have to ask: what really is the point of tabling this motion today and taking up an hour of Welsh taxpayers' time? The motion was co-tabled by the Plaid Cymru Government and its little helpers, in a spectacular…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
It's fascinating that your answer did not explicitly state whether you're talking about absolute poverty or relative poverty, and they are very different metrics. Absolute poverty focuses on the welfare of the poorest people in our society, something I want…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
6. What are the Welsh Government's plans for addressing poverty in this Senedd term? OQ64674
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
So, why didn't that happen?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
Reading your budget, it says if the money for the extra committees and Plenary wasn't needed, it would go into the consolidated fund. That's what it says in your budget, isn't it?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
I've got a follow-up just on the first question you asked. Are you saying the extra spend on the Chamber was an accident and it was just convenient that the money that was going to go towards new committees and Plenaries—but there weren't those committees—was…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
Have you done any analysis over the services that you're legally required to do, and what are the 'nice to haves'?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
No, I have got other questions.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
[Inaudible.]—all my questions.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
Okay. Sweet. That's amazing. Thank you. Another thing I'm really interested in is how much staff are paid. Obviously, in the report we're talking about, they had a greater-than-inflation increase on average, if I'm correct. That's quite impressive, given that…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
Great. Just going back to that question of whether it's possible to get a breakdown of roles, I think that was a 'yes'. Do you roughly know what the timelines are, just so that we—?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
I'm interested in staffing costs, obviously, because it's the biggest expenditure in the budget we're reviewing. One thing I was surprised to see was the lack of details when it comes to the breakdown of staff. Is it possible to get a breakdown by department…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
But do you understand that that confused the system? I was getting leaflets and even I was going, 'Wait a minute, I don't think I even understand the system because this leaflet is telling me something different than your booklet.'
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
Just on the elections and explaining how the system works, was there any attempt to alleviate some of the misinformation that was provided from some of the parties? Some parties were saying, 'You have to vote for us to keep Reform out', whereas this was…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
Thank you.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
I understand, but you mentioned there that there was a budget of what you 'thought was correct', and I'm interested in understanding the thought process of how you think that is correct.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
I don't know what that means. Can you just dumb it down, the answer? What makes you decide it's double the budget?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Scrutiny of Accounts - Senedd Commission 2025-26: evidence session
Just going back to Alun's question on the election-related costs, you spoke about that it was double those for the previous election. I wasn't clear on why it's doubled. Why is it not triple or quadruple or 1.5 times?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Audit Wales brief: Welsh Government arrangements for funding local government
But isn't, partly, the reason why so many grants are provided later in the year because the Welsh Government can't figure out, actually, 'How much in grants can we give local councils?' until it gets very close to the end of the financial year?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Audit Wales brief: Welsh Government arrangements for funding local government
But do you think it should be more flexible, or do you think that balance has been hit?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Audit Wales brief: Welsh Government arrangements for funding local government
So, on restricted grants, it was incredible that £1.5 billion was allocated to councils in the last month of the financial year in 2025. So, obviously, that leaves very little time for councils to get that money and then figure out what they're supposed to…
