Priority Talent Pool not just a thing of the past

TAXPAYERS are bankrolling an invisible army of civil servants in Whitehall who have no jobs but still draw a salary.

Up to £1million a week is spent supporting the ghost jobs of more than 1,700 redundant workers who are placed in a Priority Talent Pool and keep getting paid until a plum new post comes up.

Despite Gordon Brown’s declaration of war on Whitehall waste the number of phantom employees has trebled in a year, pushing the total annual bill for taxpayers to £50million.

The admission from ministers comes as Britain slides into recession, thousands of workers in the private sector are being laid off every week and millions more are worried about their jobs.

Give the Assembly Government some credit where it's due with its 'first-to-do' culture. They were the first to do this. At least the UK Government has the decency to call it a 'Priority Talent Pool' and not just a 'Central Postings Pool'. The Assembly could learn a little from positive spin, but not much.