Welsh Assembly Commission 'should be more transparent'

The body which runs the Welsh Assembly should be more transparent in how it spends its money, AMs have said in a report.

The finance committee claimed the Assembly Commission relied on an underspend in AMs' expenses to fund refurbishment projects.

Committee chairman Simon Thomas said no other directly-funded body enjoyed such "flexibility" in using spare cash.

The Assembly Commission will consider the report's findings.

The commission is a cross-party group made up of one AM from each of the four main parties, and is responsible for maintenance of the assembly's buildings and infrastructure as well as support services for AMs.

In November, AMs approved a £2.3m increase in the commission's budget- a rise of more than 4% - to £56.1m for 2018/19.

It came despite criticism from people such as Labour AM Mike Hedges, who said the commission "cannot be immune from the austerity that the rest of the public sector in Wales is facing".

The finance committee report on Tuesday noted that a remuneration board - independent of the commission - sets out the salaries and expenses available to assembly members.

It said the commission sets its budget assuming AMs claim the maximum allowances possible but aims to under spend that budget by 0.5% - amounting to £262,000 in 2017/18.

"This underspend has traditionally been utilised by the commission to fund in-year investment priorities," the report said, adding that the commission is "not required" to inform the finance committee or the assembly of such spending.

The report highlights concerns such money had been used to help fund a £1.8m refurbishment of the ground floor of Ty Hywel, the assembly's main base in Cardiff Bay, including the building of new committee rooms.

The finance committee said it was "particularly concerned that being informed of this significant expenditure retrospectively did not allow for clear scrutiny".

Mr Thomas called for core projects to be "identified and funded separately", not just for the sake of transparency but to avoid being "reliant on an unpredictable resource".

"The flexibility afforded to the commission is not available to the other directly funded bodies in Wales," he said.

"Those bodies are required to identify project work during budget planning, which is then scrutinised by the finance committee, providing transparency for the public.

"The commission should not be exempt from operating in this way."

A commission spokesman said it "welcomes the committee's recognition of the work we have already undertaken to further improve the transparency of our accounts".

"As the committee has found, there is no 'one size fits all approach' to this issue.," he added.

"The report identifies the strengths and weaknesses of alternative models and recognises that the model in Wales is similar to arrangements at other parliamentary bodies.

"We will consider the committee's findings and recommendations in more detail as we work on our budget strategy for 2019/20."