6. Debate: The First Supplementary Budget 2018-19

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:24 pm on 10 July 2018.

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Photo of Mr Simon Thomas Mr Simon Thomas Plaid Cymru 4:24, 10 July 2018

(Translated)

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you for the opportunity for me to contribute in this debate. As the Cabinet Secretary has just outlined, this supplementary budget is not a significant one, but as a committee we do value the opportunity every time to consider any changes in the budget and we do that formally through the supplementary budget process.

We've used this supplementary budget as an opportunity to identify where we would like to see more detail going forward—and we look forward to the budget in the autumn, of course—so, areas such as financial transaction capital, which the Cabinet Secretary has talked about already, health funding, the rail franchise agreement, decarbonisation and the impact of the future generations legislation on the budget. And, of course, we're looking forward to the first carbon budget—and student loan policies. These are areas that we will be looking to scrutinise further, and I will refer to just three of these briefly.

Financial transaction capital is an area that the committee considered in the budget scrutiny last autumn when we were concerned perhaps that the Government might not be able to make use of this funding stream. We are pleased to note that the majority of financial transaction capital has been utilised and, despite the Treasury restrictions, there is evidence of some innovative uses of the funding. We would be eager to see further detail on how this funding is allocated, and this should be included in the overall picture of Welsh Government debt in the forthcoming budget.

The committee is concerned to see that some health boards are still not meeting their requirements under the National Health Service Finance (Wales) Act 2014, although it is reassuring to note that the health portfolio is currently managing within the funding it has been allocated. That said, it is still early in the financial year, so we will continue take an interest in the funding of health boards. We have noted the work of the Public Accounts Committee in relation to the accounts of the health board, and we look forward to their report.

As a committee, we also have an interest in the rail franchise fiscal agreement. We are eager to understand how all of the fiscal arrangements between the Welsh Government and the UK Government interact, and we would like to see additional detail in the autumn on how the rail agreement influences the budget more widely. Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this debate, and I look forward to hearing the comments of other Members.