3. Will the Minister make a statement on how the Welsh Government manages its budget? OAQ54852

The Welsh Government operates within the budget regime set by the UK Government. Budgets are monitored closely by officials, and this includes forecasting and explaining budget variances. I receive monthly reports from the finance director, and discuss financial performance with officials. I am responsible for approving budget amendments during the year.

I thank you for that answer, Minister. I'd like to examine one aspect of your budget, and that is the local government settlement. With regard to that, I'd like to quote some figures to you: 2 per cent, 4.2 per cent, and 6.5 per cent. The first figure, of 2 per cent, is the UK inflation rate; the second figure, of 4.2 per cent, is the generous average increase in the budget allocated by your Government to local authorities. So, why is it, Minister, that the third figure, of 6.5 per cent, indicates the average increase in local authority council tax charges? Does this not point to poor financial management by local authorities, and should you revise your reward with regard to that?

Well, of course, the setting of council tax is a matter for local councils themselves. And I have to say the Welsh Local Government Association have recognised the settlement that local authorities have received this year as being an exceptionally good one. And we've worked really closely with the WLGA and others in terms of setting the budget and understanding the pressures that they're under. And it was our commitment at the start to give local authorities the best possible settlement, and I think it's fair to say that many local authorities have been pleasantly surprised at the settlements that they've been able to receive. And some have indicated that the increases in council tax in their local areas won't be as large as they perhaps had first envisaged, because of the support Welsh Government has been able to give.

Minister, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales has said that there's still a disconnect between budget allocations and our quite proper aspirations to reach a low-carbon and carbon-neutral Wales. And I notice the committee also said that the draft budget should explain and demonstrate clearly how funding allocations will support the decarbonisation priority. So, can we expect that future budgets will be more transparent and clear in this regard, or do you think that this year's one is best practice?

I certainly don't think we've got to the point where we can say we have achieved complete best practice yet, and that's been very clear, because we've set an ambitious budget improvement plan. I see that as a five-year rolling plan in terms of how we can continually strive to improve the way that we set our budget and the way that we can make considerations about where we put Welsh Government—or the Welsh public's—money. In terms of developing that budget improvement plan, we did so with the future generations commissioner, who, I have to say, has commended the Welsh Government on taking a good step towards creating a greener Wales. Obviously, we recognise we have some way to go yet. But that budget improvement plan takes on board the journey checker, which the future generations commissioner developed, and that's all about how you can demonstrate in practice, and how you can ensure, that the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 is right there, front and centre, at the decision-making point, throughout the budget process and its monitoring and assessment.