Meetings

Commissioners considered a request from the Public Accounts Committee for further information in relation to the response to two of the recommendations made by the Committee.  Commissioners noted the letter from the Committee and agreed a response.

Commissioners were updated on the Public Accounts Committee’s routine Scrutiny of Accounts 2018-19. The report had contained six recommendations.

Commissioners agreed their response to the Public Accounts Committee report.

Commissioners were updated on various aspects of the Commission’s budget for the current year.

Commissioners considered a forecast underspend in relation to the utilisation of the Determination budget and the estimate of Members’ Pension Finance costs, received from the Government Actuary’s Department, which is lower than the budget that was set before the start of the financial year.

Commissioners agreed to submit a Supplementary Budget, for inclusion in the Welsh Government’s budget motion, to decrease the AME budget by £500k and decrease the Remuneration Board’s Determination Budget line (Members’ salaries and related costs) by £500k.

The Commission agreed to offer a Voluntary Exit Scheme (VES), anticipated to be in late November 2018 to ensure that it can continue to provide the necessary skills, expertise and capacity to support the Assembly through the particular challenges brought by Brexit and Constitutional Change. The possibility of a VES had been identified to both PAC and the Finance Committee during the recent round of budget and accounts scrutiny.

Commissioners agreed that the Chief Executive and Accounting Officer should write to both PAC and the Finance Committee to inform them of these decisions.

Catharine Bray presented an updated financial management report for the year to 31 January taking into account spend decisions of the Investment and Resourcing Board (IRB). A contingency for costs, such as maternity leave, had been ring-fenced to be paid centrally. The Board were advised that although allocations for the new financial year were being finalised, it might be necessary to ask for more savings on budgets in-year.

Dave Tosh outlined the MoSCoW prioritisation process that IRB were using to assist in identifying a project’s priority based on scoring against sets of criteria, to help determine the investment programme for the coming year. It was a tool to help in thinking and applying a formality to the process. The ‘could do’ items would need more discussion and would depend on funds available.

ACTION: Dave Tosh to circulate the MoSCoW tool to Board members.

Having already provided information to the Finance Committee, Commissioners considered the remaining recommendations made by the Committee in their report on the 2018-19 Draft Commission Budget, concerning accommodation and the Capacity Review.

Commissioners agreed their response to the Finance Committee’s report.

Manon Antoniazzi gave an outline to the Board of the challenges the recommendations presented, following the Committee scrutiny session on the Commission’s draft Budget for 2018-19. There was not such a clear remit from the Committee to adopt the budget this year as had been received in previous years, and further clarification was being sought in relation to the period covered by the first recommendation.

The Board discussed the response to each recommendation, which would be presented to Commissioners at their 6 November meeting for their approval, proposing that the recommendations be largely agreed, whilst making the case for the resources and flexibility needed to deliver the Commission’s strategy.

ACTION: Nia Morgan to circulate the draft response to the Board for input before finalising.

Paper 1 – draft report

6.1 The Committee agreed the report with minor changes.

Following initial consideration of the draft budget at the last meeting, Commissioners considered further work that had been done including new information received in relation to the Assembly Member Pension Scheme and the Pension Service Cost (AME budget).

Commissioners reflected on the position in relation to their strategy and the work of the Assembly a year on from the election, and the steer they wish to provide in terms of prioritisation. They agreed that they should be involved in further work on this during recess.

The draft budget will be laid following the Commission’s final consideration in September.

Oral item

An update was provided on the Budget Strategy that had been to the Commission meeting on 12 June.  Due to the considerable financial pressures on the budget and unexpected developments, officials had considered, with the Llywydd and Suzy Davies AM as lead Commissioner on the budget strategy, proposals to manage projected costs, taking into account practicality and risks, and which would allow for more clarity on capacity and direction.

The Board provided input on the in-year pressures, how they could be managed and the impact on the strategy for future funding.

Commissioners deliberated preparations for the budget for the 2018-19 financial year. This would be the first time that the current Commission had been through a full budget cycle process.

Commissioners discussed the current context, which has seen the level of change exceed expectations and increased pressure and demands on the Assembly Commission. They acknowledged there are further changes on the horizon and a need to balance supporting these with continuing to provide excellent services to Members and to the people of Wales.

Commissioners confirmed their support for the direction of travel and requested additional information to support their future decision making.

The Commission agreed that the final draft budget will be laid by the end of September following further consideration.

Manon Antoniazzi summarised the key points of the strategy to provide context and inform the Board’s discussions on planning and risk.

The current financial position was particularly challenging with little flexibility, and meant that a 2018-19 budget needed to be sufficient to support the pace of change and ambitions of the Fifth Assembly, the increased workloads for Members and progress in securing more powers for Wales, whilst being prudent and mindful of the wider public sector context.

Work was underway to look at areas of flexibility that might bring budget savings, but there was a need to be realistic in terms of sufficiency and there were still areas where the costs could not yet be defined, or may be deferred to the following financial year.

The Board were asked to consider whether the proposed budget was sufficient to deliver the priorities and discussed the assumptions on which the budget was based, whether there were further efficiencies that could be identified within services or coming from project work to free up additional funding or staff resource.

ACTIONS:

·                Nia Morgan and Lowri Williams to consider the costs relating to staffing.

·                Service Heads to look at whether any discretionary spending can be reconsidered.

·                Clarify the strategy wording on costs for the Youth Parliament; strengthen the narrative on MySenedd; include examples of the day to day savings being made e.g. RoP/Table Office.

The Budget Strategy would be presented to the Commission at their meeting on 12 June.