Child Budgeting Inquiry

The Children and Young People Committee (NAW*) met on 13 January 2009 to agree their Forward Work Programme for Spring 2009.

This is to include a Child Budgeting Inquiry. Draft terms of reference and further information on the inquiry were tabled to the Committee in December 2008 in a paper available here. Children's budgeting is defined in the paper as follows:

• "Children’s budgeting is about examining the resources government allocates to polices, programmes and services that benefit children, and about whether these adequately reflect the needs of children and young people.
• It would make budgetary decisions affecting children and young people more visible and transparent and make government more accountable.
• It will help decision-makers to be aware of the impact of policies on children and young people."

The Committee aims to take evidence from:

• Professor David Reynolds (27 Jan)
• Save the Children (10 Feb)
• Institute for Democracy in South Africa [IDASA] (3 March - via video conference, to be confirmed)
• Funky Dragon (3 March, to be confirmed)
• Welsh Local Government Associatin [WLGA] (17 March, to be confirmed)
• Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (31 March)

The Committee also intends to hold an informal meeting with parent groups, facilitated by Children in Wales on 25 February.

Committees can be viewed online at www.senedd.tv, via S4C2 digital or can be attended in person (see details here).

* NAW - National Assembly for Wales