6. Motion to approve the Senedd Commission's Budget 2021-22

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:43 pm on 11 November 2020.

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Photo of Mike Hedges Mike Hedges Labour 4:43, 11 November 2020

I just want to make two very brief points and ask three questions. I think it's important that the Commission, excluding items outside of their control set by the remuneration committee, are not treated more favourably than the public sector as a whole. This is a presentation issue, but I do not understand why we cannot receive the costs set by the remuneration committee separately to agreeing the budget of the Commission. Neither the Commission nor we as Members have control over the decisions of the remuneration committee, so all either the Commission or the Senedd can do is accept the costs and budget for them. The questions I've got are these. A number of people employed by the Commission are currently working from home. After the pandemic is over, which hopefully will be in the next financial year, what proportion of staff do you expect to continue working from home, and what are the expected monthly costs and savings? As the Commissioner knows, it is a policy of the Conservatives to freeze expenditure on the Commission's services. What work has the Commission done to calculate a budget on the proposals of the Conservative Party, and will they share the areas that would be cut in year to meet the Conservative Party proposals? Finally, the Commission quite rightly publishes the postage cost of each Member on a monthly basis, but for comparison can they publish the postage cost of each Commission cost centre on a monthly basis?