, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Any more questions, Mike, or are you happy with that?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Diolch yn fawr. I'll go back to Mike, then, please, if we could.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Right. Okay. Thank you. Rhianon, did you want to ask a question on that?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Just before I bring Mike back in, the cause of that was the impact of decisions made in Westminster about what was devolved and what was not. Is that right? Or was it just the quantum that was coming through? What drove that late—?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Thank you very much. I'll bring Mike Hedges in at that point. If we could unmute Mike. Mike's unmuted. Thank you.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Well, it's the assumptions that you made in December 2022, so what's the—?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Thank you very much. And finally from me for now: we're coming up to the end of the financial year and the majority of the pay awards are settled. What assessment have you made of additional staffing costs in different portfolio areas, compared to the…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Thank you very much. The decisions you've made in this supplementary budget help in terms of reducing the budget pressures and the demands going forward. Given the stark funding position going into 2024-25, are there any knock-on effects from this…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
I'm just trying to understand the process you go through to get to that point.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
There is variance, because, obviously, you've found underspends.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Thank you for that. Going away from policy, I suppose, and those MEGs, you talked a lot about forecasts. How accurate have the forecasts been? Because obviously, if you're monitoring it on a monthly basis, you'll know what your variance to forecast is. Is…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Peter, you had your hand up, but it's gone down. Did you want to come in on this?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Talking about health, you did give the bulk of the extra money that you found to health. You also asked health to make some in-year efficiencies, and you've mentioned there's still a deficit, is there, within that MEG? Are you happy that you're monitoring—?…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
In the communications plan around that, obviously, we had an indication in August and not a lot of information then until October. Is there anything else that you could have done differently to take people on that journey with you, or are you quite happy that…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Looking back at, obviously, all the conversations that we've had—we've had meetings, we've talked about it at the draft budget stage, we've talked about it in October—given all of those conversations and questions that have been posed to you, are you happy…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Thank you very much. Great. Okey-dokes. Well, we'll start, if I may, by looking at the economic situation impacting on affordability plans for 2023-24 and how the Government is planning to respond to those pressures. The supplementary budget follows the…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Okay. Our substantive item this morning is the second supplementary budget that was laid earlier this week—no? Yes, earlier this week. Last week—yes, I'm getting confused. There we are. Last week, it was laid. So, we've got the Minister with us and her…
, Finance Committee
Papers to note
So, if we move on to item 2, which is papers to note. We have four papers to note there. If we could note them, but I think, on paper to note 2, we've had a letter from the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee about a legislative consent memorandum…
, Finance Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
Good morning and welcome to this meeting of the Finance Committee. I'd like to welcome Members, who are all here. We have no apologies and three other Members are on the screen, so, a warm welcome to you. I also offer a warm welcome to the Minister, who is…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Another alarming issue that has been raised by the Resolution Foundation's analysis is the extent to which the UK Government's planned tax cuts will need to be accommodated in part by reductions to the budgets of non-ring-fenced policy portfolios. Once again…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Thank you very much for that response. Following the discussion that we had yesterday, it's very encouraging to hear that the Senedd is supportive of looking at different options.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Diolch, Llywydd. The up-and-coming UK Government budget promises to see yet more hardship for ordinary working people in Wales. After the catastrophic fallout from Trussonomics, which left an enormous black hole in the UK public finances, a fresh wave of…
, Plenary
Legislative Consent Motion on the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill
The economic activity of public bodies Bill, which obliges public bodies to comply with the foreign policy outlook of the UK Government and imposes legal restrictions on the ability to make ethical investments abroad is an affront to the basic democratic…
, Plenary
Debate: Budget flexibilities and the operation of the UK funding framework
Dirprwy Lywydd, if I may just say a couple of words as the Plaid spokesperson on finance and local government, based on the issues we've listed, I’m particularly heartened that there is cross-party recognition today that the current fiscal framework for Wales…
, Plenary
Debate: Budget flexibilities and the operation of the UK funding framework
And finally, I would like to mention the lack of engagement between Whitehall departments and the Senedd on funding matters and the effect that this has in the context of accountability. This is something we have seen with our own eyes since the beginning of…
