Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:26 pm on 1 February 2017.
Thank you, Oscar, and thank you for your warm words. It’s been a pleasure working with you on the committee over the last few months as well. I don’t think that was a request for us to call Tony Blair to the Welsh Public Accounts Committee—at least I’m not taking it as such—but I take your point. The point is, as a committee, we are free to make requests to any members of the public to come and speak to the committee if we believe that the evidence justifies it. It is a big workload and often the evidence that we receive does lead us to take evidence from witnesses we didn’t consider initially. But as I say, we have to be evidence based in that respect.
In terms of your key question, you kind of answered it yourself in the question. We have a balance to be struck between considering the Wales Audit Office’s work on the one hand and now conducting our own Member-led inquiries. I know that, in this Assembly certainly, many members of the committee are eager for us to carry out our own inquiries, and not just short, sharp inquiries. In terms of looked-after children, which I know Lee Waters has been particularly interested in, in making sure that we do a medium- or long-term piece of work that doesn’t just get forgotten on a dusty shelf a year or two years afterwards, but that we do mean business and we are going to revisit that issue in the future to make sure that things have improved, because that’s too important an area. It’s one example of an area that’s too important for us not to revisit and make sure that they are listening to our requests.
I would say, finally, in terms of your question, it’s for me as the Chair, with your assistance of course as members, to make sure that I do get that balance right. And I’m sure that if I don’t get it right at any point you’ll be the first—well, you are the first to tell me, I know that, so I probably don’t need to mention that. Or I shouldn’t remind him. So, I will continue to endeavour to do that. But do not be afraid to tell me if you feel I’m getting the balance wrong, because I’m only human.