, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Rhianon wants to come in as well. Rhianon.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Peter, and I think Rhianon wants to come in as well.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
And other public bodies, and directly funded bodies in particular, come to this committee to be scrutinised, and their budgets are slightly different from the ones that come to Government for that. So, that's where we're going to be having discussions with…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Just on that point, just something to note is that any supplementary budget by a directly funded body would be attached to that one in February, so the knock-on effect for people working in that, potentially, is that they don't get that cost-of-living payment…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
There's a slight distinction, isn't there? You've got directly funded bodies and then you've got Government bodies, arm's length, like Natural Resources Wales and some of the others. They're in a slightly different situation, where some can carry reserves and…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Thank you very much. I'll bring Rhianon in next. If we could unmute Rhianon. Go ahead, Rhianon.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
I think it'd be interesting for the committee to understand. The figure of £900 million is nearly £1 billion; is that the quantum of the cuts that you're looking at, or are they cuts towards that figure? So, are you looking for the £900 million or are you…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
I think, from this committee's point of view, we get a lot out of that because, obviously, it helps frame our questioning and our thoughts in coming through in budget scrutiny. So, I think it's an excellent element and, obviously, the engagement that we do…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Rather than get bogged down into this now, maybe you could write us a short briefing note on this issue and see if we can get that bit, as I think things like self-employment will come into it, and that can affect stuff as well. So, there's a lot of elements…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
So, if you've got more—. If your tax take is higher than you're expecting it to be, you can't use that extra until it's adjusted at the end of the year. I know I'm simplifying it massively, but is that correct?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Thank you for that.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Sorry, Mike, just on RAAC as well, I know a lot of the local governments have come out and checked the schools, but to what extent have we got to the point where all buildings owned by local government have been checked, and are there any budgetary issues…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Okay. I'll go over to Mike.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Will the block grant adjustment give us any chinks of light that there's some positivity coming back, or—?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Final question from me for now: looking at the budget for 2024-25 and your current year as well, what are the changes in the forecast for inflation and economic growth and tax revenue, including the block grant adjustment? What impact is that having in real…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Thank you. So, when we were looking at—. You were talking about sectors there. Are there some sectors within the economy that have been less impacted by some of this, or fewer sectors that we're involved in been less impacted in terms of inflation by both the…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
So, looking at—. Sorry, Gawain.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
And is there an element where you'd look at, say, the capital budget rather than the revenue? Would a fairer inflationary figure be something like the construction element because of building? Would you ever blend those indices or go into more analysis of…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Yes, it was interesting because we hear that inflation is coming down, but will inflation coming down have a bearing on that figure? Will it improve the deficit there—the £900 million deficit? Is it baked in now or will it, over time, get better?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
You talked earlier about that £900 million, and that's a figure that's been around since, probably, about March time—that you've been saying, in real terms, the budget is £900 million less than it was in 2021 when we had the settlement. We were talking to the…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Peter.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Do you think, realistically, that anything will change in the next couple of years?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Okay. Sorry. Did I miss—
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Thank you for that. It is disappointing that the autumn fiscal event is going to be later, so it means it puts pressure on you, it puts an awful lot of pressure on this committee's scrutiny, and the other committees, obviously, trying to do that. In your…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25—Pre-budget scrutiny
Welcome. This is the pre-budget scrutiny, which we had last year and again this year. It's great to have you with us and to start linking through some of the stuff that we did from the priorities debate and all the way through and to look at the next few…
