APPENDIX
RESPONSE TO THE WELSH AFFAIRS COMMITTEE'S REPORT
ON THE WELSH OFFICE DEPARTMENTAL REPORT 1998 (Third Report 1997-98:
HC 751)
We shall look at the new expenditure proposals
with close interest and may invite the Secretary of State to give
us further evidence in the Autumn. (Paragraph 2)
You have indeed invited me to appear before you on
3 November. As I explained in my letter of 7 September, I shall
be happy to answer questions about the Comprehensive Spending
Review but I will not have taken decisions about spending plans
by the date of the meeting. This will, however, give me an opportunity
of hearing the views of the Committee so that I can take them
into account along with any comments I receive as a result of
the consultation exercise which is currently underway.
We urge the Department to consult fully with Parliament
before finalising the form of the new Estimates. (Paragraph 5)
Noted. This matter is being considered in conjunction
with the Treasury Officer of Accounts who has been sent a copy
of the Committee's report for information.
While we appreciate that the planned merger with
the Development Board for Rural Wales (DBRW) and the Land Authority
for Wales (LAW) will have required the WDA's plans to be radically
rethought, it concerns us that expenditure plans were not in place
at the beginning of the financial year. (Paragraph 7)
Noted. 1998 was an exceptional year because of the
merger.
We urge the Department to ensure that the Departmental
Report 1999 include full details of targets and expenditure plans
for the year ahead for Cadw and for all of its NDPBs, and, more
crucially, that each have expenditure plans and targets in place
before the beginning of the year. (Paragraph 8)
We agree the Committee's main point that expenditure
plans and targets should be in place before the beginning
of the year, but the timescale to agree targets may not always
permit their incorporation in the Departmental Report.
Target setting is still evolving. The Welsh Office
should establish clearly whether targets are meant to be achievable
or aspirational, and should ensure some consistency in the achievability
of the targets set. (Paragraph 9)
The Department is currently reviewing its targets
in the light of its new aims and objectives. The Department's
main targets will be published as part of the Public Service Agreement,
which will be issued later in the autumn.
In view of the growing importance of PFI commitments,
we recommend that they be clearly listed under a separate heading
in future Departmental Reports. (Paragraph 10)
We believe that expenditure on private sector
consultancy should be watched carefully and recommend that the
next Departmental Report list specific details of such expenditure
for the Department and for each NDPB. We intend to examine this
issue closely in the year ahead. (Paragraph 11)
The 1999 Departmental Report will list PFI commitments
and expenditure on private sector consultancy as recommended by
the Committee.
Training is key to the future prosperity of Wales:
it is essential that its funding be maintained. (Paragraph 12)
Noted. I have issued a consultation paper "Modern
Public Services for Wales" on our spending plans for 1999-2002.
I shall be announcing the spending allocations later in the year.
We believe there should be greater openness in
the allocation of grants to industry, and this is a matter which
we intend to address in our forthcoming report on Investment in
Industry in Wales. (Paragraph 13)
There has been a marked decline in applications
for Regional Selective Assistance and Regional Enterprise Innovation
Grant... We intend to address this matter
of grant take-up in our forthcoming report on Investment in
Industry in Wales. (Paragraph 14)
Noted. I await the Committee's report on Investment
in Industry in Wales with interest.
It is, in our view, disastrous that government
support for agriculture should be cut at a time when farmers are
suffering so badly from a fall in farm incomes. We await with
much interest the Government's reply to our recent report on the
Crisis in the Welsh Livestock Industry. (Paragraph 15)
The Government is currently considering the Committee's
Report on the Crisis in the Livestock Industry and intends to
respond immediately after the Parliamentary recess.
We urge the Department to ensure that student:staff
ratio figures for 1997-98 are available for inclusion in the Departmental
Report 1999. There is growing evidence that the further education
sector is seriously overstretched. (Paragraph 16)
The Department notes the Committee's comments and
will at least include provisional 1997-98 data for student:staff
numbers in the 1999 Departmental Report. Final data may not be
available, however, because institutions' statistical returns
on staff numbers have to be validated against their financial
returns, and final accounts for the financial year ending 31 July
are not due to be submitted until 31 December.
Since the Departmental Report was published, an additional
£3.5 million has been allocated to the Further Education
sector in Wales. The sector will also benefit from the additional
£730 million which has been made available for education
in Wales over the 3 years 1999-2000 to 2001-2 as a consequence
of the Comprehensive Spending Review.
It would, in our view, be unreasonable to expect
the trusts to meet these transitional costs (of
reconfiguring NHS trusts) out of existing resources. (Paragraph
17)
The transition costs of NHS Trust reconfiguration
will be taken into account in allocating resources to Health Authorities
for 1999-2000.
The growing accumulated deficit of the NHS in
Wales is a matter of very grave concern. We recommend that the
next Departmental Report contain details, estimated if necessary,
of the financial performance of Health Authorities and Trusts.
(Paragraph 18)
Accepted.
We trust that the Department's new expenditure
proposals will set out clearly the forecast costs of the temporary
accommodation and of the new Assembly, and the savings to the
NHS budget of relocation from Crickhowell House. (Paragraph 19)
Noted. The Committee's views will be taken into account
in framing the new expenditure proposals.
While we welcome the Secretary of State's assurance
that he would tolerate no discrimination, we are not convinced
that the Department has pursued its equal opportunities policy
with adequate vigour. It must ensure that there are no obstacles
to the career progression of women and of people from ethnic minorities,
and that it recruits widely from all sections of the Welsh population
and from all parts of Wales. (Paragraph 20)
Noted. My Department is already addressing the issue
of the low level of representation of ethnic minority people within
the organisation. Policies are continually monitored and evaluated
to identify barriers and develop policies to overcome them for
all under-represented groups.
We recommend that the Department take these points
(of style) into consideration when compiling their Report for
1999. (Paragraph 22)
These points will be considered in preparing next
year's Departmental Report.
7 October 1998
