, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session
Okay, thanks. We've heard from other people we've interviewed, other organisations, that getting hold of key staff is really hard. Are there areas of the Commission staff where you are struggling to recruit to? Is that a market forces issue—you know, just for…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session
Okay, thanks, Ken. Obviously, the pressures that all organisations are facing, and your focus on well-being of your staff—. Have you got any concerns about retention of staff at the moment? How is the general feeling of staff?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session
Yes. Thank you, Ken. Peredur, you've already touched a bit on my next question, which was really looking at—. We know the pay increase is about 3 per cent at the moment, and that's way below pay awards that we know are happening. I just wondered how you would…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session
Just sticking on the staffing perspective, and I know you've got a workforce plan, you're taking targeted interventions at the moment to obviously manage this current situation. Does that cloud, or is there a possibility that that might cloud, your judgment…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Senedd Commission Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session
I was just thinking, what if things weren't normal next year? What sort of contingency would you put in place to make sure that you could cover—? Because there are only going to be so many efficiencies you're going to be able to make. Have you had some…
, Plenary
Debate on the Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee Report, 'Natural Resources Wales—Annual Scrutiny 2022-23'
I would like to thank the Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee and their clerking team for an extremely insightful report. Firstly, I want to also pay my thanks to NRW staff who work tirelessly under extremely challenging conditions. In…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Minister, we must never lose sight of the importance of our food security and, to that end, we must explore all options to encourage more local horticulture, and I agree with Jenny. A study carried out by Tyfu Cymru, together with Food Sense Wales, found that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
We know students in Wales lag behind their peers in England when it comes to funding, to the tune of around £1,000 per student. We also know that last year Wales received an extra £129 million-worth of funding as a result of increased spending in English…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: The health budget
These examples explain in some way why we are where we are and why we should be concerned. The desire of Welsh Labour to drive forward their suite of pet projects, hatched together with their comrades in Plaid Cymru, has siphoned valuable resources away from…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: The health budget
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and I'm pleased to open this debate today, and I move the motion in the name of Darren Millar. Deputy Llywydd, I want to begin by recognising that the Welsh Government, like many Governments across the world, is in a challenging…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Economy
Thank you, Minister. Minister, the NatWest business activity index paints a very concerning picture for Wales, as the number of outstanding businesses in private firms is on a downward trajectory. Despite the data highlighting an increase in output, the devil…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Economy
8. What is the Welsh Government doing to improve productivity within the Welsh business sector? OQ59930
, Finance Committee
Audit Wales—Scrutiny of the Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 and the Annual Plan 2024-25: Evidence session
Thanks for that update. Thank you, Chair.
, Finance Committee
Audit Wales—Scrutiny of the Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 and the Annual Plan 2024-25: Evidence session
One final question from me, Chair. Last year, we discussed the possibility of the quality of Audit Wales work being subject to overview of a Senedd committee. The annual report says that you have held a series of conversations with the Treasury and the Welsh…
, Finance Committee
Audit Wales—Scrutiny of the Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 and the Annual Plan 2024-25: Evidence session
Thank you for that. That's quite worrying, what's happening over the border. We certainly don't want to get to that. Last year, we discussed your audit quality target, which was missed. Delivery remains below your target this year. What was the process for…
, Finance Committee
Audit Wales—Scrutiny of the Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 and the Annual Plan 2024-25: Evidence session
Great. Thanks for that. I'm going to move on to a few questions around the work programme and the quality of the work delivered in-year. Last year, you spoke about a technical issue to do with accounting for infrastructure assets at local government bodies…
, Finance Committee
Audit Wales—Scrutiny of the Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 and the Annual Plan 2024-25: Evidence session
No, I can absolutely see how it's fundamental to your workforce planning to get and retain those guys, yes. Moving on then, in 2022-23, you used an independent research company to gather stakeholder feedback. Those indicators linked to stakeholder views show…
, Finance Committee
Audit Wales—Scrutiny of the Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 and the Annual Plan 2024-25: Evidence session
Yes, great. So, moving on then, there’s been a large drop in the proportion of trainees achieving first-time passes in their exams. I just wanted to know what are the reasons for this and what are the implications for your workforce planning as a result.
, Finance Committee
Audit Wales—Scrutiny of the Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 and the Annual Plan 2024-25: Evidence session
So, hopefully, that's a good picture of engagement over well-being so that should have a direct impact on that KPI, which was showing there was a bit of a weakness in engagement, so that's really positive.
, Finance Committee
Audit Wales—Scrutiny of the Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 and the Annual Plan 2024-25: Evidence session
Yes, and we experienced your new office as well, and I thought there was a good feel about the environment, so I can see why staff would be positive about that. You also launched your staff well-being strategy last year. Has that been well received?
, Finance Committee
Audit Wales—Scrutiny of the Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 and the Annual Plan 2024-25: Evidence session
Thank you, Adrian. You've pre-empted my follow-up question, really, because we were concerned about some of the results that were commenting on how well change is managed, and you've obviously picked up on that and interventions are already happening and…
, Finance Committee
Audit Wales—Scrutiny of the Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 and the Annual Plan 2024-25: Evidence session
Yes, and on employee engagement.
, Finance Committee
Audit Wales—Scrutiny of the Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 and the Annual Plan 2024-25: Evidence session
Thank you. Good morning, all. KPIs are obviously a theme that we want to look into a little bit more. I know, Kate, you will have explored with employees some of the issues around that, but I've got some specific questions around KPIs, because you've achieved…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Thank you, First Minister, for your response. Last week, and today, we've heard a lot of discussion about taking action to save lives across Wales, and one evidence-based way of doing that is to provide more mental health support across Wales. It’s incredibly…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
7. What action is the Welsh Government taking to support mental health services in Wales? OQ59942
