Consultation display

Review of staffing support for Members: Flexibility of the allowances surrounding the Support for Political Parties Allowance

Purpose of the consultation

At its meeting on 24 May the Remuneration Board considered the consultation responses received with regards to its proposals to increase the flexible use of the existing allowances within the Determination for individual Member’s allowances. The Board also considered how it could increase the flexibility of the allowance with regards to the Support for Political Parties Allowance to provide a degree of parity in the flexibility of the provisions for both Members and Political Parties. The Board decided to consult on the following proposals:

  • budgeting Support for Political Parties Allowance at actual pay points;
  • publishing the expenditure each Political Party makes on its Support for Political Parties Allowance;
  • removing the provision within the Determination which allows for the virement of funds from the Member’s Staffing Allowance to the Support for Political Parties Allowance.

Terms of reference

The Board will review existing and new evidence relating to the staffing allowances provided for Members, to ensure that the financial support available supports the strategic purpose of the Assembly and facilitates the work of its Members as well as ensuring that the system of financial support for Member is robust, clear, transparent, sustainable and represents value for the taxpayer.

The review will consider:

  • the adequacy of the level of support provided to Members;
  • the flexibility and prescriptiveness of the current support system for Members; and
  • the suitability of the current terms and conditions of Support Staff.

Providing written evidence

The National Assembly for Wales has two official languages, Welsh and English.

In line with the Assembly’s Official Languages Scheme, the Board requests that documents or written responses to consultations intended for publication or use by the Board are submitted bilingually. When documents or written responses are not submitted bilingually, they will be publish in the language submitted, stating that it has been received in that language only.

The Board expects other organisations to implement their own standards or schemes and to comply with their statutory obligation.

Disclosure of information

Please ensure that you have considered how the Board will use your information before submitting information to the Board. This is noted in the annex of the consultation letter.

The deadline for submissions is Friday 20 July 2018. It may not be possible to take into account responses received after this date.

Supporting documents

Contact details

Should you wish to speak to someone regarding this consultation, please use the below contact details:

Remuneration Board
Welsh Parliament
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff
CF99 1SN

Email: Remuneration@senedd.wales
Telephone: 0300 200 6565