, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
Let me go into the critical infrastructure projects then. So, in the last few years, we've been delaying critical infrastructure projects. So, if you were in the building today, you would see that the third lift in Tŷ Hywel isn't functioning. Now, that's…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
Do you want me to go into the critical infrastructure and tell you some of the things that we're talking about there?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
Yes.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
Yes, that would be incorporated in the Senedd reform part of things, because the remuneration determination has been set already.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
Yes. We did touch on additional support for committees, which was the other thing, and also the triannual employer pension and contribution rate change, which was necessary. Simon, do you want to come in on that one? Were you indicating?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
And that was driven by the fact that we'd had those early discussions, because I don't think the BBC would have picked up on it so quickly if we hadn't had those discussions. So, the benefit was that it was out in the public domain as well. Now, I don't see…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
Well, I hope I'll 'show, don't tell' through the course of the discussion. But, certainly, the size of the increase in the budget did make Members sit up and take note. You would have noticed that the BBC ran a number of stories across their platforms last…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
Not strictly change, but, certainly, the focus of my arguments that I'm going to present today were honed and were as a result of that discussion. Members—
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
Yes, okay. So, consultation has been really important, and engagement with Members. There are a couple of things: there's the statutory engagement we have to do, which is this; the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee yesterday; and the Plenary…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
Two point six—. Sorry, it's £1.5 million. The provision for 2025-26 pay award is £1.5 million, which is a 5 per cent increase. So, this is subject to negotiation as well; don't forget that the trade unions still have a mandate for strike action within the…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
Sorry, for this year. Yes, this year, because we're talking about the budget for next year as current year, which we can take out of the budget if the—. So, the budget will drop by £456,000, if we get the supplementary budget through.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
That was for last year.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
Yes.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
No, that's right.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
No, it's 2 per cent. Oh yes, it is 5 per cent.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
It doesn't quite link across, because the GDP deflator was about the whole budget, whereas we're talking about the operational budget. The issue is that, first of all, we've got the pay deal that I mentioned, and the pay deal is very much part of the…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
Yes. That's a really good and important point to make, making the distinction between the total and the operational budget, and the fact that the operational budget is about those things that are happening that would happen regardless of Senedd reform. So, I…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
So, don't forget, Senedd reform, ways of working, Bay 32 are outside of the operational budget. So, the operational budget has gone up by—let me just get the figure—11.09 per cent.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
So, you want to talk about the operational budget?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
So, I suspect we might come on to that if we want to discuss Bay 32, because there are a number of options—perhaps this is breaking news—that go beyond just Tŷ Hywel.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
But the Bay 32 project will absorb a lot of this in that the ongoing needs for a sustainable and modern building will be addressed through that. But I was in another office, a Senedd Member's office, yesterday, and they were pointing out that their window was…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
That's a very technical question. Perhaps I could ask Simon to come in.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
Yes, sure. So, fundamentally, one of the first things that I, when I became a commissioner, was briefed on and became aware of and worked into my everyday life was the Finance Committee's five statements of principles. Everything we do is geared towards that…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
There's some costing to be done around, but it won't be anything near £456,000.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session
Yes.
