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Finance Committee |
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Meeting Venue: |
Committee Room 2 - Senedd |
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Meeting date: |
Wednesday, 19 February 2014 |
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Meeting time: |
09:00 - 11:07 |
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This meeting can be viewed on Senedd
TV at: |
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Concise Minutes: |
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Assembly Members: |
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Jocelyn Davies (Chair) Peter Black Christine Chapman Paul Davies Mike Hedges Alun Ffred Jones Sandy Mewies (In place of Ann Jones) Julie Morgan |
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Witnesses: |
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Jane Hutt, Minister for Finance Jeff Andrews, Welsh Government Lynne Hamilton, Finance and Commercial, Welsh Government Gareth Morgan, Financial Reform, Welsh Government Jo Salway, Welsh Government |
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Committee Staff: |
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Bethan Davies (Clerk) Claire Griffiths (Deputy Clerk) Joanest Jackson (Legal Advisor) |
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Transcript
View the meeting transcript.
1 Introductions, apologies and substitutions
1.1 The Chair welcomed Members and members of the public to the meeting.
1.2 Apologies were received from Ann Jones. Sandy Mewies substituted.
2 Welsh Government Supplementary Budget 2013-2014
2.1 The Committee took evidence from the Minister for Finance on the Welsh Government Supplementary Budget 2013-14.
2.2 The Minister for Finance agreed to write to Committee outlining how she intends to proceed with regarding the concerns raised by the Auditor General for Wales in his letter to the Permanent Secretary on 13 November 2913, prepare and lay in the Table Office annual reports on the Invest to Save scheme, explain what early release is and clarify the savings she expects under this scheme, and confirm the budget allocation for administration under the Discretionary Assistance Fund.
3 Draft Wales Bill: Evidence from the Welsh Government
3.1 The Committee took evidence from the Minister for Finance on the draft Wales Bill.
3.2 The Minister for Finance agreed to send the Command Paper to Committee, when published by the UK Government, for Committee to consider and comment on, including likely timelines for the implementation of the Bill.
4 Papers to note
4.1 The papers were noted.
4.1 Assembly Commission: Supplementary Budget 2013-14: Letter from Angela Burns AM (12 February 2014)
4.2 Draft Wales Bill: Letter from Secretary of State for Wales (14 February 2014)
5 Motion under Standing Order 17.42 to resolve to exclude the public from the meeting for the following business:
5.1 The motion was agreed.
6 Welsh Government Supplementary Budget 2013-2014: Consideration of evidence
6.1 The Committee considered the evidence received from the Minister for Finance on the Welsh Government Supplementary Budget 2013-14 and agreed to consider the Committee’s report outside of Committee due to timing issues.
7 Draft Wales Bill: Consideration of evidence
7.1 The Committee considered the evidence received from the Minister for Finance on the draft Wales Bill and agreed that the Chair would write to the Secretary of State for Wales on points raised and also invite the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to Committee.
8 Approach to Budget Scrutiny: Effective scrutiny of the Budget by Committees
8.1 The Committee considered the letter from the Presiding Officer and the Chair agreed to reply based on the discussion.
9 Welsh Government Draft Budget 2014-2015: Progress report
9.1 The Committee noted the paper and agreed that if progress had been made, to have monthly updates and quarterly should the situation remain unchanged.