Two years since Rhodri's ‘bonfire’ - Was it all worth it?

This blog is always eager to report and share its opinion on what's regarded as the reckless abolition of Welsh quangos, in what was seen at the time as a 'personal vendetta' by Rhodri Morgan; and the ups-and-downs in the Welsh Assembly Government civil service.

The latest news in the Western Mail raises concerns - again - regarding wasted millions in surplus staff that were made by Alun Cairns AM back in October 2007 . It is that nearly two and a half years after a trio of quangos were “merged” with the Assembly Government, 89 members of staff have still not been allocated permanent jobs.

Last night politicians said it was “ludicrous” that nobody had been made redundant as a result of the mergers.

The Welsh Development Agency, the Wales Tourist Board and the training body Elwa were abolished in April 2006 in Rhodri Morgan’s “Bonfire of the Quangos”.

Around 1,600 people were working for the three bodies at the time the mergers were announced in 2004, but an agreement was reached with unions that compulsory redundancies were to be avoided.

That led to the setting up of a “Central Postings Pool” for displaced former quango employees who had yet to be found a permanent role within the Assembly Government.

It has now emerged that this week there were 89 people still in the pool – although officials were quick to point out that people were coming into and leaving the pool all the time.

Wales' biggest winners: Criticism of bonuses awarded to top civil servants in Wales

Joining in with the criticism of Senior Civil Servant bonuses on this blog, the Welsh Conservatives have criticised bonuses awarded to the Assembly's top civil servants.

Miss Wagstaff Presents:

• Civil Service v Politicians: That old question of pay 2nd July 2008
• Education Director Optimistic on Results 18th January 2008
• Education: When do we get down to business? 16th January 2008
• Assembly Government Spin Doctors Costing Taxpayers £438k 11th January 2008
• Permanent Secretary to the Welsh Assembly Government 1st January 2008
• Pay and pension can be a lottery 19th November 2007
  

The BBC have reported (also covered in the Western Mail) that bonuses to top civil servants in Wales have risen 154% in the past five years, according to figures obtained by the Conservatives. They show senior assembly government staff received more than £686,000 last year, compared to £270,000 in 2003/04.

The Tories said it showed a "money for nothing culture" in Cardiff Bay.

But the assembly government said it did not decide bonuses. The First Division Association union said only staff who achieve their objectives received them. Meanwhile, the assembly government defended spending more than £48,000 on office plants, saying they helped to "lower employee turnover rates" and improve air quality.

Conservatives called for a review of senior staff salaries after their written questions revealed details of the highest earners among administration senior staff.

The figures show overall assembly government staffing costs for 2006/7 were just over £224m, with staffing levels of 6,230 at 31 January this year.

The latest official statistics show that in 2005-06 the average (mean) pre-tax income in Wales was just £20,000.

The Conservatives calculate that out of a total Assembly Government staff of 6,230, 28 earn in excess of £100,000, 23 between £80,000 and £90,000, 51 between £70,000 and £80,000, 171 between £60,000 and £70,000, and 499 between £50,000 and £60,000.

The bonuses were defended by the FDA, the union for senior civil servants.

Opposition leader Nick Bourne said:

I find it incredible that the Labour-Plaid government has the brass neck to award staff such whopping bonuses when it has been failing on so many fronts over the last 12 months. Year after year Rhodri Morgan has spent more taxpayers' money on spin, presentation, advisers, and bureaucracy. This is money which should go on health, education and local government, not to fund an administration whose policies suffocate choice, enterprise and innovation.

Alun Cairns AM said:

Families across Wales who are struggling to make ends meet with stagnant earnings and rising living costs will be appalled by these figures. Massive amounts of public money are being used to swell the bank accounts of senior civil servants at a time when the Government is urging pay restraint.

A Welsh Assembly Government spokersperson said:

These very senior staff form part of the senior civil service and their pay and bonus policies are determined by the Treasury and Cabinet Office, not by the assembly government or other devolved administrations. To attract and retain high calibre staff we need to reflect market values. But recent senior staff review board findings show that senior civil service salaries have fallen behind those in other areas of the public sector, notably NHS and local government.

Bonus payments are not permanent and are non-pensionable. In effect, base pay is being held down in favour of one-off payments that do not affect future levels of pay or pension. *

Paul Neilson, First Division Association's national officer for Wales, said:

Far from being a 'money for nothing culture', those who do not achieve their objectives will not get any pay increases.

* That doesn't cause too much discomfort when they earn in excess of £50,000 per annum, without bonuses.

Finance Committee Report

Following on from a meeting that took place on 27th November in the Senedd with the Minister for Finance, Andrew Davies AM, where the Finance Committee scrutinised the Minister in the light of the evidence it has received in relation to the draft Welsh Assembly Government budget - The committee's report has been published today.

The Minister presented his budget to the Committee at their earlier meeting on 8th November. Since then the Committee has taken evidence from Local Government, the NHS and other Assembly Committees.

The published report has been covered by the Western Mail and BBC Wales. The BBC summarises the detail as:

The finance committee's report said a lack of funds could affect the assembly government's ability to deliver One Wales coalition deal promises. It also has "grave concerns" the £15bn a year draft budget could hit core council services and urged a rethink. The committee, which is made up of a cross-party group of assembly members, has expressed fears that there may be a shortfall in funding for new capital projects. These include the building of new roads, schools or hospitals. Core council services could also be affected by the budget settlement, the report concluded.

The AMs fear that promises made in the One Wales agreement which led to the creation of the Labour Plaid Cymru coalition, could be threatened by the shortfall. They say it is also unclear how hundreds of millions of pounds in efficiency savings are to be met. The AMs also complain that the presentation of the budget created confusion, and have grave concerns that the local government settlement is inadequate to safeguard core services.

Alun Ffred Jones AM (one of two Plaid Cymru members on the committee) has already been on record to defend the costing of the One Wales' commitments, and rubbish the report.

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Any work carried out by the Finance Committee has to be seen as fundamental in the way the Assembly carries out efficient and effective scrutiny. I find it difficult to believe that a member of this committee couldn't attend a key meeting due to a prior engagement and then has the nerve to criticize the work of the committee on publication of the report, when concerns should have been made much earlier. I have to agree with Peter Black AM:

In the circumstances I do not see how Plaid Cymru can wash their hands of the report's conclusions and nor should they. Effective scrutiny requires government backbenchers to put partisan considerations to one side so as to question the actions of the executive. That is a lesson that some Plaid Cymru members need to learn.

Alun Cairns AM has also talked prior to starting work on the scrutiny of this budget of "failure of scrutiny in past Assembly Committees and the need for all this to change with the current set up"

Following on from an earlier post, we shall now see how the Minister and the government backers from the backbenches respond to these criticisms when the draft budget is debated in plenary on 11th December 2007.

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Update: Western Mail, 4 December

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Alun Davies AM:

It’s a very curious position to adopt, to make these criticisms today when the report is published. He’s had the same opportunities I have had to raise issues, discuss it, and question witnesses.

Mr Jones did not attend the final meeting of the committee prior to publication on Wednesdayn, although Plaid AM Mohammad Asghar was present. A revised draft was circulated at lunchtime the next day and final version circulated on Friday afternoon.

Alun Cairns AM is in the chair and means business

Alun Cairns AM and Chair of the Assembly's Finance Committee has spoken frankly on his blog about scrutiny of the 'One Wales' budget.

He talks about the failure of scrutiny in past Assembly Committees and the need for all this to change with the current set up. He also mentions his previous 'scraps' with Minister Andrew Davies, and the how the committee will effectively tackle scrutiny of the budget over the coming weeks.

He goes on to say:

The big challenge for me is to see how the priorities in ‘One Wales’ are to be reflected in government’s budget. This is the time to scrutinise the affordability or the extent of commitments. Commitments have also been made on the money saved from the bonfire if the Quangos and I suspect some members will want to look for evidence that the figures are being achieved.

Being serious, I take the role as chairman of the committee seriously and will act independently and in a balanced way; however, we need to couple this with the general lack of scrutiny in the past and anyone (ministers in particular) giving evidence should be able to answer the basic premise of funding priority
following One Wales.

Alun has spoken about his commitment to the function of the committee and his role. As a 'Scottish' terrier known for biting the nether regions of past Labour Government Ministers in the Assembly, we could be in for an interesting month or so.