By Paul Dicken
20 November 2009
The Welsh Assembly Government’s 2010/11 budget plans fail to show how the government’s objectives will be met in ‘changed economic circumstances’, AMs have said.
The Assembly’s finance committee said using the same expenditure patterns and formulas did not ‘convey the agility needed to respond to the current economic situation’.
The budget failed to respond adequately to the economic challenges despite bringing forward capital spending to support the economy and a proposed £20m funding boost to tackle youth unemployment, the AMs said.
Committee chair Angela Burns said: ‘The committee accepts that the government has a commitment to the objectives in the One Wales agreement but it finds it difficult to understand how these will be deliverable unless a much greater priority is given to driving the economy forward out of the recession.’
The draft budget report, published on November 12, said the committee would welcome details from Health and Social Services Minister Edwina Hart on the savings expected from the reorganisation of the health service. During the committee’s evidence sessions, NHS finance directors said that up to £1bn of the total health budget a year was not being used appropriately.
The report concluded that it was too early to judge whether the 2009/10 £600m public sector efficiency savings would be achieved. A letter from the auditor general for Wales, Jeremy Colman, to the committee said the £600m target would not be met. It also identified barriers to the target, including the efficiency framework itself.
Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery Andrew Davies told the committee he disagreed with Colman’s view.
20 November 2009
The Welsh Assembly Government’s 2010/11 budget plans fail to show how the government’s objectives will be met in ‘changed economic circumstances’, AMs have said.
The Assembly’s finance committee said using the same expenditure patterns and formulas did not ‘convey the agility needed to respond to the current economic situation’.
The budget failed to respond adequately to the economic challenges despite bringing forward capital spending to support the economy and a proposed £20m funding boost to tackle youth unemployment, the AMs said.
Committee chair Angela Burns said: ‘The committee accepts that the government has a commitment to the objectives in the One Wales agreement but it finds it difficult to understand how these will be deliverable unless a much greater priority is given to driving the economy forward out of the recession.’
The draft budget report, published on November 12, said the committee would welcome details from Health and Social Services Minister Edwina Hart on the savings expected from the reorganisation of the health service. During the committee’s evidence sessions, NHS finance directors said that up to £1bn of the total health budget a year was not being used appropriately.
The report concluded that it was too early to judge whether the 2009/10 £600m public sector efficiency savings would be achieved. A letter from the auditor general for Wales, Jeremy Colman, to the committee said the £600m target would not be met. It also identified barriers to the target, including the efficiency framework itself.
Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery Andrew Davies told the committee he disagreed with Colman’s view.
