, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
I was going to say that, on biodiversity, not spending money is quite often a benefit. Roundabouts and grass verges, not having them cut down to an eighth of an inch above the ground, but allowing wildlife, including flowers as well as butterflies, et cetera…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Just can you write to us?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
And finally from me, you know how few private finance initiative schemes there were in Wales—thank you very much, Rhodri Morgan. Have you considered paying them off at some stage? And with interest rates going up, I know, from a discussion we had with Anthony…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Okay.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
But there are only two possibilities, aren't there? If you set a contract for £100 million, and £20 million has been added to it, and they're absorbing that, either they're being paid so much that they can afford to absorb it and continue to make a profit, or…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Well, one of two things has happened, then: either the contract had too much money in it, or, secondly, they're going to give the contract back to you and just claim for what they've spent.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Thank you. Can I ask you about the mutual investment model projects, or three big MIM projects—the A465 dualling, Velindre Cancer Centre and the construction pipeline for schools? I won't go through my view on MIM, because I think that's quite well known, but…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
What is the limitation on recycling, because I assumed that, when you had it, you could continue to recycle it?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Is that £100 million new money, or does it include money that has been paid back from previous financial transaction payments? It's meant to be a loan, isn't it?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
But you've always got housing associations that you can give it to, if nothing else.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Okay. And the next question is on financial transaction capital. We haven't seen them as yet—or I haven't seen them as yet. If they exist, apologies. Do you know which areas roughly they're going to be allocated to when the final budget is published?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
I mean, without trying to tell you what do with the Government, wouldn't it be useful to bring a debate into the Senedd, in Government time, asking for all those things and see if we get unanimity amongst the Members here, so you would actually be able to…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Thank you. The fiscal framework does appear, to me at least, extremely unfair. There are annual limits on drawdown from the Wales reserve, there's a cap on borrowing. Peter had neither of those when he was leader of Monmouthshire County Council. So, you're…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
The big problem is dividend income. Most rich people don't pay income tax. That's why they rarely complain about it. They get their income by dividend or they get it paid into a third-party organisation somewhere, and therefore they avoid income tax. That's…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 7
But there's no reason why Cardiff and Vale can't do outreach in any village or town, or anywhere else. It's your budget—I'm just trying to be helpful—but if somebody else can do the work and they're getting funded for it, are you making the right decision to…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 7
Just from what you've said there, these are questions where I'm asking you do something—I was happier on your side than I am on this. The question is: why don't the WLGA make representation to have planning charges set by local authorities? It's something…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 7
And, I think, finally from me—. You've also got council tax, fees and charges. I'm not going to ask you to tell us your council budget now—first, you wouldn't, and, secondly, it would be wrong for you to do so. But, are you giving serious consideration to the…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 7
The prudent way that you've borrowed has been very, very good. The question is: have you scaled back your borrowing for this year with interest rates having gone up to 5 per cent?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 7
Can I just finish this?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 7
Thankfully, unlike England, you haven't been borrowing to buy shopping centres and leaving yourselves in very serious financial positions. Congratulations on that.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 7
Well, just following on from what you were talking about—borrowing—I'll tell you what I know, but everything is say is 13 years out of date, so tell me if it's still correct. You used to borrow from the Public Works Loan Board, and you used to borrow over 30…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 7
First of all, can I thank you for what you're all doing to provide local services in very difficult times? I, and I'm sure most colleagues, really do appreciate it. I want to talk about capital expenditure. How has the provisional settlement affected your…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 6
That's me.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 6
Okay. I haven't got time to follow it up, but the fact is you're not very good at getting capital receipts into health. A question for ADSS, because I know we're running quite short of time, do the draft budget allocations provide enough focus on prevention?…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 6
I've only got, really, two questions, I hope. To the Welsh NHS Confederation, the Institute for Fiscal Studies told us it would be worth while doing more analysis of what can be done to improve the efficiency of the NHS, particularly learning from others. The…
