By Vivienne Russell | 4 July 2013
The Welsh Assembly is working with CIPFA on a programme of financial scrutiny training for Assembly members and their staff, believed to be the first of its kind in a parliamentary context.
The move follows the Silk Commission recommendations. Reporting last year, the commission called for more fiscal autonomy for the Welsh Government in the form of greater tax-raising and borrowing powers, but matched this with an enhanced scrutiny role for Assembly members. In particular, consideration should be given to increasing the Assembly’s capacity and expertise for financial scrutiny, Silk said.
Following some successful pilot sessions, the Assembly has awarded CIPFA a contract to provide the training.
Five sessions have been scheduled for the next 18 months. These will cover areas such as the budget process, committee inquiries, in-year and end-year monitoring, and the financial considerations that should apply to policy development.
The Assembly said it was likely that further sessions would be developed once the UK government had responded formally to the Silk Commission.
‘When anyone is elected or recruited into a job that requires a range of skills, it’s important to have training and professional development in place,’ Assembly presiding officer Rosemary Butler told Public Finance.
‘Understanding the technical complexities of the public finance system – particularly in relation to holding the government to account in times of tightening budgets – is absolutely crucial in any parliamentary setting, and I am pleased to see that we are leading the field by developing skills for legislators in this area.’
Butler added that the Welsh Assembly was like any other workforce, and should therefore receive proper training. ‘It’s done in all leading organisations where you try to review and improve your work and respond to change.’
