Labour are doing
just enough to remain visible, but not enough to make any difference with
things like the Budget Deal, Remembrance celebrations and a few quotes on the
North Wales Child Abuse scandal.
Plaid Cymru
still grabbing the headlines with eye-catching ideas that won’t amount to very
much (Leanne throwing her lot in for a constituency seat)
And the Lib
Dems and Tories still opposing everything the Welsh Government is doing while
trying to half heartdly defend what’s going on in Westminster.
So it's good to know other are on the ball as the Finance Committee has been busy taking evidence and has uncovered serious
concerns the Welsh Government's Budget's affordability.
They
statement from the Committee says ‘Members of the Finance Committee remain unconvinced that the Welsh
Government's proposed expenditure for the next financial year will be adequate
to fulfil its planned programme.
In particular, the Committee believes that Wales’s Local Health Boards will not come in on budget this year and therefore money will have to be drawn from other areas in the Welsh Government’s plans.
The evidence to the Committee highlighted an
apparent lack of preparation to establish which elements of the budget will
take priority should further funding for Local Health Boards be required.
Concerns are also raised about the
discrepancy between the Welsh Government’s provision for the costs to local
authorities of implementing proposed new legislation and the local authorities’
own estimates.
"The Committee is not convinced this
draft budget can cover everything that the Welsh Government wants to achieve in
the next financial year," said Jocelyn Davies AM, Chair of the Finance
Committee.
"Of particular concern is the evidence
which suggests that Wales’s Local Health Boards will not come in on target this
year and we believe further consideration should be given to what areas and
departments will be squeezed if and when budgets get tight.
"We also wish to see greater
clarification on the scale of costs for implementing future legislation for
local authorities as currently there appears to be a large discrepancy between
Welsh Government and local authority estimates."
So
will the First Minister and Plaid Cymru leader listen to the queries?
