, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Homelessness
I was waiting for you to let me in there, Janet. Do you see any synergy or culpability in terms of UK welfare benefit cuts—for instance, the single bedroom tax, the depletion in housing benefits—for being in any way responsible for some of that change?
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Post Brexit and post COVID, health-needed demand, as the Minister knows, has rocketed across the UK and Wales. The Aneurin Bevan University Health Board covers the most dense areas of industrial ill health, a former Objective 1 area, and of course the Welsh…
, Finance Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
At what point are you going to be coming back to this committee to do a rerun of where we're at?
, Finance Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
In regard, then, to the mandate of this committee and our scrutiny of where we're at at the moment, as you're all very well aware, the financing and the cost of this Bill itself, and the cost of the reform itself, is already a political hot potato. So, my…
, Finance Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you very much. Thank you, Chair.
, Finance Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Okay. The majority of costs, as you've inferred, incurred by the Electoral Commission and the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales are considered opportunity costs. What would happen if future resource requirements relating to Senedd reform…
, Finance Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
That's fine.
, Finance Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
I'm glad that we've raised those issues, even though it's, in a sense, not part of where we are in this Bill. I think these are really important issues for the next Senedd moving forward—hugely important. Going back to my questions, in terms of uncertainty…
, Finance Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Okay. It makes sense.
, Finance Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Okay. Thank you. I'm going to move on. The Bill also relates to job sharing—that's something that's been contentious in the past—for particular offices in the Senedd and the Welsh Government. The Bill does not introduce any provisions that would establish job…
, Finance Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
That's a very good answer.
, Finance Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you very much, Chair. It's difficult for us as a Finance Committee dealing with known unknowns, and obviously we will try our very best in terms of digging in to those assumptions. My questions are really pertaining to those uncertainties. But I think…
, Finance Committee
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales—Scrutiny of Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, and Estimate 2024-25: Evidence session
Okay, thank you very much, Chair.
, Finance Committee
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales—Scrutiny of Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, and Estimate 2024-25: Evidence session
So, it's a suite of measures.
, Finance Committee
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales—Scrutiny of Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, and Estimate 2024-25: Evidence session
Excellent. My final question: funding for those two posts is going to be partially offset by efficiencies in non-pay budgets, so can you briefly outline how these efficiencies are generated, or potentially generated, given the increases that we've identified…
, Finance Committee
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales—Scrutiny of Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, and Estimate 2024-25: Evidence session
Okay, so, you've underestimated, in a sense, what you could do with.
, Finance Committee
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales—Scrutiny of Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, and Estimate 2024-25: Evidence session
[Laughter.] Fine. Right, I'm coming to my last questions, Chair. The request also includes funding for one investigation officer and one data analyst—you've already outlined that. Just to outline why those roles are needed, very briefly—you've already done…
, Finance Committee
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales—Scrutiny of Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, and Estimate 2024-25: Evidence session
So, you're not planning on a massive office move somewhere nice and shiny, then.
, Finance Committee
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales—Scrutiny of Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, and Estimate 2024-25: Evidence session
Okay, thank you. The wider question, then, is: do you anticipate making cost savings on accommodation in the longer term? Obviously, the inflationary pressures are there.
, Finance Committee
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales—Scrutiny of Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, and Estimate 2024-25: Evidence session
I've never seen that before.
, Finance Committee
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales—Scrutiny of Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, and Estimate 2024-25: Evidence session
Well, this is very detailed—£16,000, I've got in here.
, Finance Committee
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales—Scrutiny of Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, and Estimate 2024-25: Evidence session
Fine. Thank you for that. That was interesting. So, you've talked about efficiencies already and you talked about your reduction around office costs just a moment ago, but the estimate does request an additional £71,000 for premises and facility costs and…
, Finance Committee
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales—Scrutiny of Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, and Estimate 2024-25: Evidence session
Okay, thank you. You've answered the first of my questions in relation to your projection around the 5 per cent pay award and the potential, you know, it could be above the 3 per cent, and also in terms of where we currently sit in terms of that pay award for…
, Finance Committee
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales—Scrutiny of Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, and Estimate 2024-25: Evidence session
Okay.
, Finance Committee
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales—Scrutiny of Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, and Estimate 2024-25: Evidence session
So, in terms of technological development, all that sort of forward-facing work now is on the back burner, would you say, or is there still work going on on that sort of thing?
