Agenda and minutes

1.1 The Chair welcomed Members and members of the public to the meeting.

Jane Hutt AM, Minister for Finance and Leader of the House

Richard Clarke, Head of Invest-to-Save Unit

Jeff Andrews, Special Adviser

2.1 The Chair welcomed Jane Hutt, Minister for Finance and Leader of the House; Jeff Andrews, Special Adviser; and Richard Clarke, Head of Invest to Save.

2.2 The Committee scrutinised the Minister.

Action points:

The Welsh Government agreed to provide:

·         A note on the geographical spread of Invest to Save applications;

·         A note explaining how the Welsh Government ensures that projects are clear about the criteria that they need to follow when bidding for Invest to Save funding;

·         Further details on the membership of the stage 2 panel, including details on the levels of expertise on those panels, and of measures taken to ensure that the process is less intimidating for bidders;

·          Clarification on how perceived similarities between the assessment criteria for the Invest to Save Fund and the Regional Collaboration Fund will be managed by the Welsh Government;

·         A note on the disparity between evaluations conducted by Swansea University and CSSIW of the Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Lean project.

3.1 The Committee received feedback from Committees Members who had visited projects which had received Invest to Save funding.

3.2 The Committee agreed to publish the reports of each visit.  

FIN(4) 01-13 – Paper 1 – Financial implications of Recovery of Medical Costs for Asbestos Diseases (Wales) Bill

FIN(4) 01-13 – Paper 2 – Financial implications of Human Transplantation (Wales) Bill

FIN(4) 01-13 – Paper 3 – Correspondence from Minister for Local Government and Communities regarding Invest to Save

FIN(4) 21-12 (Mins) – Minutes of previous meeting

4.1 The Committee noted:

·         A paper on the financial implications of the Recovery of Medical Costs for Asbestos Diseases (Wales) Bill

·         A paper on the financial implications of Human Transplantation (Wales) Bill

·         The minutes of the previous meeting on 5 December 2012.

Item 6 to 7.

4.1 The Committee considered Ministerial responses to Committee reports on the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2013-14.  

7.1 The Committee discussed the evidence received on its inquiry into Invest to Save and agreed to consider a draft report at a future meeting. 

View the meeting transcript.