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Public Accounts Committee |
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Meeting Venue: |
Committee Room 3 - Senedd |
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Meeting date: |
Thursday, 6 June 2013 |
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Meeting time: |
14:00 - 17:10 |
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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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Darren Millar (Chair) Mohammad Asghar (Oscar) AM Mike Hedges Julie Morgan Jenny Rathbone Aled Roberts Jocelyn Davies Sandy Mewies |
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Witnesses: |
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Dr Jean White, Welsh Government Val Whiting, Welsh Government Maureen Howell, Head of Lifestyle Change Branch Piers Bisson, Public Service Reform Division June Milligan, Welsh Government Abigail Harris, Director of Strategy and Policy Owen Evans, Director, Skills, Higher Education and Lifelong Learning, Welsh Government Melanie Godfrey, Programme Director 21st Century Schools Sonia Reynolds, Deputy Director, Transformation Programme Division Huw Vaughan Thomas, Auditor General for Wales, Wales Audit Office |
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Committee Staff: |
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Tom Jackson (Clerk) Daniel Collier (Deputy Clerk) |
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1 Introductions, apologies and substitutions
1.1 The Chair welcomed Members and members of the public to the meeting.
2 Update from the Welsh Government on the implementation of recommendations made in the Public Accounts Committee report 'Hospital Catering and Patient Nutrition'
2.1 The Chair welcomed Professor Jean White, Chief Nursing Officer, Welsh Government; Maureen Howell, Head of Lifestyle Change Branch, Welsh Government; and Val Whiting, Head of Capital, Estates and Facilities, Welsh Government.
2.2 The Committee scrutinised the witnesses.
Action points:
The Welsh Government agreed to provide:
· A Cost Benefit Analysis of each option for the proposed IT structure to underpin hospital catering function;
· Details on the percentage of Band 5 nursing staff across all Health Boards who cannot access e-learning facilities as a result of not having access to work-email accounts;
· Costs associated with the implementation of the e-learning package on patient nutrition;
· Further details of levels of participation in on-line training packages in the NHS;
· Further information on the destination of food waste, including details of the waste contracts between health boards and local authorities; and
· A note explaining measures put in place by health boards to meet requirements set out by the Food Hygiene Bill.
2.3 The Committee agreed to write to the Minister with concerns raised in this meeting.
3 Update from the Welsh Government on the implementation of recommendations made in the Public Accounts Committee report 'A Picture of Public Services'
3.1 The Chair welcomed Dr June Milligan, Director General, Local Government and Communities, Welsh Government; Piers Bisson, Head of Public Service Reform Division, Welsh Government; and Abigail Harris, Director of Strategy and Policy, Department for Health and Social Services.
3.2 The Committee scrutinised the witnesses.
Action points:
The Welsh Government agreed to provide:
· Figures demonstrating how financial management skills across the public service have been improved;
· Clarity on the costs and benefits of collaborative work undertaken by initiatives such as the Reform Delivery Group; the Public Services Leadership Group; the Partnership Council; Academi; and the new Commission on Public Service Governance and Delivery;
· A note on the use of Lean systems within the Welsh Government;
· Examples of where the Welsh Government have funded consultants to review the Lean system initiatives which have not been implemented;
· Further details on how good practice in the health and social care sectors will be shared across local authorities.
3.3 The Committee agreed to write to the Minister with concerns raised by the Committee at this meeting.
4 Update from the Welsh Government on the implementation of recommendations made by the third Assembly PAC on 'Capital Investment in Schools'
4.1 The Chair welcomed Owen Evans, Director General, Education and Skills, Welsh Government; Melanie Godfrey, Programme Director 21st Century Schools, Welsh Government; and Sonia Reynolds, Deputy Director of the Transformation Programme Division.
4.2 The Committee scrutinised the witnesses.
Action points:
The Welsh Government agreed to provide:
· A breakdown of the number of schools in each category identified by the Welsh Government’s 2009 stock survey, including a list of those schools in the Band D category;
4.3 The Committee agreed to write to the Minister with concerns raised by Members in this meeting.
5 Papers to note
5.1 The Committee noted the minutes of the previous meeting and the work programme for the summer term 2013.
6 Motion under Standing Order 17.42 to resolve to exclude the public from the meeting for the following business:
7 Consideration of updates from the Welsh Government on the implementation of recommendations of Committee reports
7.1 The Committee discussed updates from the Welsh Government on report ‘Hospital Catering and Patient Nutrition’; A Picture of Public Services’; and ‘Capital Investment in Schools’.
7.2 The Committee agreed to write to the relevant Ministers highlighting key concerns and recommendations.
Transcript
View the meeting transcript.