National Assembly’s Finance Committee “expects results” from Assembly Commission
17 October 2012
The National Assembly for Wales’s Finance Committee says it “expects results” in its review of the Assembly Commission’s draft budget for 2013-14.
The Committee has written to Angela Burns AM, the Assembly Commissioner with responsibility for budget and governance, stating it is uncomfortable with the proposal for a 5.3 per cent increase.
It did, however, recognise that it is the second of a three-year strategy to ensure the institution can cope with new legislative responsibilities and attain its vision of being an exemplar organisation - providing world class support both to the democracy it serves and the staff who enable it to do so.
The Committee also acknowledged that, having requested the Assembly Commission to phase its proposed budget increase over two or three years, a consequence of complying with that request is a sharper increase this time around.
“The Committee recognises the investment plan proposed by the Assembly Commission in its ambition to be an exemplar organisation in public service,” said Jocelyn Davies AM, Chair of the Finance Committee.
“We, and the people of Wales, will now want to see exactly how it intends to reach this standard through concise, demonstrable results.
“The Committee is also laying down a marker stating clearly that, after the completion of this investment programme, the Commission cannot expect similarly sharp budget rises in future.”
The Committee makes three recommendations to the Commission:
It should publish a concise set of Key Performance Indicators by which Members could judge the success of the budget in contributing to corporate aims and objectives;
In future years the Commission provides a level of detail – with regards to savings and investments – as provided in the Draft 2012-13 budget; and
At the end of this three year investment programme, Commission budgets for 2015-16 and 2016-17 will increase by no more than the corresponding change in the Welsh Government’s budget.