4. Will the Commission make a statement on the use of the budget allocated for furniture and fittings? OQ55575

To be answered by Commissioner Suzy Davies. Sorry.

Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm sorry to turn my back on you, Janet. The furniture and fittings budget, such as it is, is used to provide for any ad hoc office furniture needed in Tŷ Hywel and the Senedd for Members of the Senedd, for their staff and Commission staff. The budget gives the Commission flexibility to meet a person's specific needs that go beyond the provision of standard furniture. Surplus but serviceable furniture items can be reused, used to repair or replace any broken or damaged items, or, of course, recycled.

Thank you. As you rightly pointed out, the budget for accommodation and facilities includes an allocation of £60,000 for expenditure on just furniture and fittings over the past four years. That's a total of £240,000 over four years, and we are all aware of major refurbishments to this place, over this term, that have cost millions. Now, this, into our local economy, the difference, if materials and items were procured from Wales, would go a long way.

In the budget published for 2019-20, it is stated that the Commission is developing a strategy for increasing contract opportunities for Welsh based suppliers and that progress will be monitored regularly through key performance indicators, which is set at 43 per cent of supplier spend to be with Welsh based companies. So, I suppose, really, I'm looking at whether that target has been hit and why we are only setting a target for 43 per cent. Why are we not setting a target for 100 per cent? So, next Assembly term, I would like to see that figure increased.

Also, too, you'll be aware of the campaign by the National Farmers Union and the Farmers Union of Wales, and, indeed, farmers across Wales, for us to actually implement the use, more use, of wool, Welsh wool, in certain things such as carpets in public buildings and other initiatives. So, may I have on record, to a degree, some commitment that the Assembly Commission, going forward, when spending money on refurbishments to this place, will actually look to perhaps start looking to provide a larger target of Welsh goods and procurement, and, indeed, as regards refurnishing with new carpets and things, that wool is given the first priority? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Janet. Just on the first point about the target for Welsh-procured products, we have to bear in mind that things like Microsoft and quite a lot of the kit that's probably even in this Chamber just can't be procured from Wales. So, the target of 43 per cent was set as a realistic and achievable target, which, of course, I think I should put you all on notice, is likely to be affected by the fact that we've been shut down for some time, and just simple things like buying food for the canteen just hasn't been possible. But it remains a target; it's a target we intend to hit, if we possibly can, despite COVID, but I'm just hoping that we'll be able to do that.

On the second point, can I just congratulate the NFU and actually, Janet, you yourself, for raising this campaign about using Welsh wool? As you said, the Commission has got targets for both greater procurement from within Wales, but it also has sustainability goals as well, and the use of natural product within the building—buildings, I should say—is something that we should seriously consider. The suggestion you make could be a valuable contribution for both those target areas.

I do need to add, of course, that we need to use our resources wisely—it's one of our strategic goals—so, we would need to be sure that Welsh wool products could meet the spec for long life, high use and efficient cleaning and reasonable cost, and if those products exist, or will exist, then I'm sure we would be very interested to hear about them. Thank you.

Thank you.