​More detail and clarity is needed in the National Assembly for Wales Commission budget, according to a new report from the Assembly's Finance Committee.
The Commission is the corporate body responsible for ensuring that property, staff and services such as clerking and legal advice are provided for Assembly Members.
In particular, the Finance Committee wants to know what happens to money left over from the budget set aside for Assembly Member expenses and staff costs.
With some taxation powers devolved under the Wales Act 2014 and further powers expected to be conferred on the Assembly under the Wales Bill currently making its way through the UK Parliament, the Committee did recognise a need for additional staff to cover the additional powers. But Members have asked for a detailed break-down of which areas staff will be deployed in.
"The Committee recognises that the pace of constitutional change in Wales and the powers being devolved are such that the Assembly Commission needs additional resource to meet these new challenges effectively.
"But we would like to see more detail in how the Commission intends to use this extra resource, including more staff, to develop and continue to improve its service to Assembly Members and, by extension, the people of Wales.
"We also want more clarity in what happens to funding not spent as part of the Remuneration Board's determination, and how that is being used effectively to deliver the Commission's key objectives."
The Committee makes four recommendations in its report, including:
- To ensure transparency and offer clarity, it is recommended that an update on how this resource allocation has been used is provided to the Committee following the detailed capacity planning exercise;
- The Assembly Commission provide an update shortly before the end of the financial year, detailing the underspend in relation to money drawn down to fund the Remuneration Board determination and how this underspend has been utilised by the Assembly Commission; and
- Notes the detail in the 'National Assembly for Wales Draft Budget 2017-18' and subject to the comments and recommendations in this report supports the overall request for resource in 2017-18, and recommends the Assembly support this budget.