Thank you very much, Llywydd. I am pleased to speak in this debate today on behalf of the Finance Committee. The committee met on 14 February to consider the Welsh Government’s second supplementary budget for 2018-19. In consideration of this supplementary budget, the committee was relatively content, however we have made several recommendations that we would like to see taken forward and implemented. First, the committee recognises that it is an ongoing and long-term process for the Welsh Government to achieve the ambitions of the well-being of future generations Act. However, the committee is disappointed that there appears to be little evidence as to how the Act is considered at the heart of all Welsh Government decisions. Therefore, we recommend that the Welsh Government provides a comprehensive objective-setting plan, outlining how it intends to deliver the requirements of the Act, particularly in terms of budgeting, and to do that by the end of this Assembly.

Turning to the possible M4 relief road, this supplementary budget commits £27.8 million to the project, and we recognise, of course, that a decision has yet to be made on whether or not to proceed with the relief road. However, the committee was surprised to hear, given the funding that’s already been committed to the project, that there has not been any discussion between the Finance Minister and the First Minister in terms of planning for a possible M4 relief road. Should a decision be made to proceed with the relief road, we recommend that the Minister and the First Minister should commence discussions on a long-term financing plan imminently.

The supplementary budget allocations include £9.5 million, with the objective of reshaping the workforce within the Welsh Government. We heard evidence that the Government is looking to bring in new skills and possibly create posts to support Brexit, but there were no figures available on savings or actual costs. We would expect a scheme of this value to result in some savings to the organisation. Therefore, we do recommend that the Welsh Government provides an update to the committee on the outcome of the voluntary exit scheme, showing how that funding was used and what savings will be achieved in the longer term.

Moving on to health and social care, we heard evidence that £20 million had been set aside over the previous winter to alleviate expected pressure on health boards. We recognise that winter pressures may vary from year to year, however, in the UK, we believe it’s possible to predict these sorts of pressures to a large degree. And the committee recommends that future financial planning for health boards accounts for predictable spend on winter pressures and that this is done as early as possible in the budgeting process. This would avoid the requirement for significant in-year funding, whilst also alleviating the committee’s concerns that the health main expenditure group could act as a reserve in its own right for providing additional health funding.

Turning to Brexit, the committee supports the Welsh Government in using full consequential funding relating to Brexit for preparations for leaving the EU. However, there is concern that uncertainty around the nature of the UK’s exit from the EU at a UK level places significant risk on the Welsh Government’s planning. We support the Welsh Government’s comments that it would look to the UK Government in the event of a ‘no deal’ scenario to secure any relevant funding and that it would expect to be kept informed of developments should this scenario transpire.

Finally, the committee welcomes the opportunity to consider the explanatory memorandum provided by the Assembly Commission prior to it being laid. The Commission is, for the first time, returning underspend from the remuneration board’s determination to the Welsh consolidated fund, and we welcome this.

The committee is also content with the explanatory memorandum provided by the public services ombudsman. However, we would hope that, in preparing future estimates and supplementary budgets, the ombudsman will reflect on the Finance Committee’s recommendations about how his budget should be presented and what information is provided in support of his requests in order to ensure transparency. With those comments, this has been an opportunity for me to convey the committee’s perspective, and I look forward to the Government’s positive response to our recommendations.