Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and it's a pleasure to speak in this debate today on behalf of the Finance Committee. The committee met on 24 February to consider the Welsh Government’s third supplementary budget for 2020-21. As the Chamber will know, having a third supplementary budget is very unusual, but it does reflect perhaps the continued impact of COVID-19. So, we're grateful to the Minister for bringing this supplementary budget forward and the transparency afforded to the Senedd.

This budget consolidates adjustments arising from the UK Government’s supplementary estimates, and we heard that this regularises allocations to and from reserves, and transfers between and within portfolios. It also includes adjustments to the budgets of the Senedd Commission, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales and Audit Wales.

During the second supplementary budget, many of the committee’s recommendations related to the issue of transparency. This situation hasn’t changed, and although we recognise that the pandemic continues to put a strain on the fiscal framework, it has been difficult for the committee and this Senedd to have a clear picture of the funding being made available to the Welsh Government. Our first recommendation is that the Welsh Government continues to press the UK Government for clear, systematic changes to the funding process in relation to the structure of UK fiscal events.

There's been an increase of £244.5 million to the health and social services main expenditure group compared with the second supplementary budget, and we believe that this is prudent given the continued uncertainty up until the end of this financial year. The pandemic has had a significant impact on local authority incomes and this will continue into the next financial year. Of course, throughout the pandemic the Welsh Government has provided emergency funding to local authorities, with the majority of that through the local authority hardship fund. We would like reassurances from the Welsh Government that the funding provided to local authorities is taking full account of the differential impact of COVID-19 on local authority incomes.

The situation has also had an impact on the ability of the third sector to raise revenue. It plays a key role in providing support and services to support health, social and local services. Whilst we welcome the additional funding provided within the third supplementary budget for the discretionary assistance fund and the third sector response fund, the level of additional funding is modest in comparison to the support given to health services, for example. The Welsh Government should therefore confirm that the additional funding provided fully reflects the impact on different areas and organisations within the third sector. 

This supplementary budget is the first since the EU trade deal was agreed. The Minister told us that discussions with the UK Government were ongoing regarding funding of the infrastructure costs to update ports. We recommend that the Welsh Government provides an update on these discussions when that is possible.

The UK shared prosperity fund has remained of interest to the committee since 2017, when the UK Government first announced that it would replace EU structural funds. At that time, very little detail was known, and the situation hasn’t improved much despite efforts made by the committee and the Welsh Government to access information on how this fund will be allocated or administered. Tomorrow, the Finance Committee, along with members of the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee, will take evidence from the Secretary of State and we will be pursuing these funding changes. We recommend that the Welsh Government continues to put pressure on the UK Government to ensure a fair funding settlement for Wales and that Wales does not miss out on one single penny.

As mentioned at the outset, this budget motion also includes adjustments to the budgets of the Senedd Commission, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales and Audit Wales, and the committee is content with the variation in these budgets.

Finally, we are pleased that the UK Treasury has agreed that the Welsh Government can carry forward £650 million funding that was provided late in the financial year, in addition to the current limits to the Wales reserve. I would like to reiterate that the committee supports end-of-year flexibility. Having flexibility over borrowing limits, too, and reserves, would help the Welsh Government in its planning, particularly in the current circumstances. Thank you.