December 2015
A call for information – Welsh Government draft budget proposals for 2016-17
The Committees of the National Assembly are seeking information to inform their scrutiny of the Welsh Government’s 2016-17 Draft Budget proposals, which was published on 8 December 2015. We are interested in exploring expectations of the 2016-17 budget, including financial readiness for the 2016-17 year and the impact of the 2015-16 budget.
The Finance Committee looks at the Welsh Government’s budget from a strategic, overarching perspective. We also work with the other Assembly Committees to ensure that proposals for specific Ministerial portfolios are considered in detail. Committees will each undertake their own focussed evidence sessions with the relevant Ministers in order to examine the areas of the budget that fall within their respective remits, and then report to Finance Committee, detailing any concerns they have. Further details on Assembly Committees and the budget process can be found at Annex 1.
In this paper we have detailed specific questions at Annex 2. You can answer any/all of these, or just let us know in general terms about your views in relation to the draft budget.
Disclosure of Information
The Assembly’s policy on disclosure of information can be accessed here, please ensure that you have considered these details carefully before submitting information to the Committee. Alternatively a hard copy of this policy can be requested by contacting the Clerk, Bethan Davies (0300 200 6372 seneddfinance@assembly.wales).
Providing information to the Committee
Interested parties are invited to submit written evidence to the Clerk of the Finance Committee to arrive by 7 January 2016. If you wish to contribute but are concerned that you won’t be able to meet this deadline, please speak with the Clerk of the Committee on 0300 200 6372.
Yours sincerely
Jocelyn Davies
Chair, Finance Committee
Croesewir gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg neu Saesneg.
We welcome correspondence in Welsh or
English.
Annex 1- Background information
Who are we?
The Finance Committee is a cross party committee of the National Assembly for Wales, made up of Members from all four political parties represented at the Assembly.
The Committee is not part of the Welsh Government. Rather, the Committee is responsible for reporting on proposals laid before the Assembly by Welsh Ministers relating to the use of resources.
Who are the other Committees involved in scrutinising the budget?
The other Committees involved in scrutinising the budget are:
- Children and Young People and Education Committee
- Communities, Equalities and Local Government Committee
- Enterprise and Business Committee
- Environment and Sustainability Committee
- Health and Social Care Committee
What is the Welsh Government’s draft budget?
The draft budget proposals must contain details of the amount of resources the Welsh Government proposes to use in the following financial year and indicative figures for the subsequent two financial years. More specifically it should set out:
- The use of resources by the Welsh Government, Assembly Commission, Auditor General and Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.
- Income to be retained by those organisations (rather than being surrendered to the Welsh Consolidated Fund).
- Cash to be withdrawn from the Welsh Consolidated Fund by those organisations.
In recent years, the Welsh Government has also provided a narrative document which further explains detailed allocations to government departments, as well as reserves and other overall allocations.
What are the draft budget allocations for 2016-17?
The Welsh Government’s Draft Budget 2016-17 and explanatory documents can be downloaded here:
http://gov.wales/funding/budget/draft-budget-2016-17/?lang=en
The Welsh Government’s most recent progress report on the Programme for Government can be found here:
http://gov.wales/about/programmeforgov/?lang=en
Consultation questions
1. What, in your opinion, has been the impact of the Welsh Government’s 2015-16 budget?
2. Looking at the draft budget allocations for 2016-17, do you have any concerns from a strategic, overarching perspective, or about any specific areas?
3. What expectations do you have of the 2016-17 draft budget proposals? How financially prepared is your organisation for the 2016-17 financial year, and how robust is your ability to plan for future years?
4. The Committee are would like to focus on a number of specific areas in the scrutiny of the budget, do you have any specific comments on the areas identified below?
- Preparation for the Wales Bill
- Local health board financial arrangements
- Approach to preventative spending and how is this represented in resource allocation (Preventative spending = spending which focuses on preventing problems and eases future demand on services by intervening early)
- Sustainability of public services, innovation and service transformation
- Welsh Government policies to reduce poverty and mitigate welfare reform
- Impact of the Welsh Government’s legislative programme and whether its implementation is sufficiently resourced
- Scrutiny of Welsh language, equalities and sustainability