Lining the pockets of lawyers... Only in Wales?

The Welsh Assembly Government spent more than £3.8m on external legal advice in one year, according to figures revealed yesterday.

The biggest spending department on advice in 2008 was health and social services, which was responsible for £1,812,366, followed by economy and transport with £1,132,049.

Conservative Assembly leader Nick Bourne said he was “staggered” by the costs.

A further £319,086 was spent on hospitality – £210,844 by economy and transport.

In addition, furniture costs reached £690,497 – of which £685,636 was spent by central administration.

Mr Bourne said:

I am staggered that the Assembly Government has spent vast sums of taxpayers’ money on legal advice, hospitality and furniture.

It is particularly concerning that [the] Assembly Government incurred a total of £3,881,206 on external legal advice when they already have a sizeable team of legal advisers on the books.

With Wales in the grip of the recession and when people were expected to tighten their belts, it is also worrying that the Assembly Government seemed to think it appropriate to splash out hundreds of thousands of pounds on wining and dining.

Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said:

It is absolutely astounding that the Labour-Plaid government spent nearly £4m on external legal advice last year.

At the time, the Government’s chief legal adviser was Carwyn Jones, a fully-qualified barrister who is now the First Minister of Wales.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:

This is an astonishing bill, particularly at a time when the public
finances are severely overstretched.

The [Assembly Government] already employs internal legal advisers, which
makes it even worse that they have duplicated that cost by bringing people in
from outside as well.

An Assembly Government spokesperson said:

Our internal legal service is primarily focused on advising ministers on
the discharge of their statutory functions and on the delivery – including
drafting – of the legislative programme.

External legal advice is used to support the Assembly Government in
non-core legal areas, including commercial, property, corporate finance and
employment law.

Clearly, as a sizeable landowner, or when engaged in commercial
negotiations, it is essential that we receive suitable legal support to ensure
the best outcome for the Welsh taxpayer.

In addition, we do not employ an in-house litigation team, and therefore
need to ensure effective legal representation on issues arising from our
responsibilities as a highways authority, or to assist in the legal affairs of
the NHS – for example, when dealing with clinical negligence cases.

We have very strict rules in place to ensure such expenditure is kept to a
minimum and only incurred where absolutely necessary and with proper authorisation.

COUGH!!!

Move the goalposts and score an own goal

As mentioned in my previous post. We're in need of a good story that not only demonstrates the inconsistency of those running the WAG machine, but also an example of the civil service not getting their own way and yet again promoting one of their own numbers from within.

The Western Mail reports the appointment of a freemason as the head of the NHS in Wales was attacked last night as inconsistent.

Paul Williams left his post as chief executive of Abertawe Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust at the end of last month on a two-year secondment during which he will be in charge of the Welsh health service. He is currently working a handover period with Ann Lloyd, his predecessor, who is retiring.

But a civil servant who contacted the Western Mail contrasted the appointment of Mr Williams with an earlier decision to block the appointment of Gerard Elias QC as the Welsh Assembly’s counsel general – partly because he was a freemason.

In 2004, Mr Elias, one of the best-known barristers in Wales, was personally vetoed by First Minister Rhodri Morgan after he was recommended for the post of top legal adviser at the Assembly by Civil Service Commissioners.

Mr Morgan’s refusal to appoint Mr Elias – and the revelation that he had unsuccessfully sought approval from the commissioners to appoint the candidate who came second, a former Labour parliamentary candidate – created a political storm at the time.

The Western Mail received a typewritten letter saying:

I am afraid this note has to be anonymous as I am a civil servant.

You might find it useful to ask the Welsh Assembly Government why it saw fit to debar Gerard Elias from the counsel general post on the basis of his rather inactive freemasonry but now sees no problem in appointing Paul Williams, a very senior and active freemason, to the post of head of NHS Wales.

No doubt the excuse will be that the counsel general offers advice on legal issues but there is no more sensitive post than head of NHS Wales.

I am not a freemason but I have no quarrel with that organisation. I have no axe to grind for or against Mr Elias, unknown to me, or Mr Williams, known to me but not well-known.

My beef is really with the inconsistency and – let’s face it the dishonesty – around decisions like this which devalue the whole Assembly position.

An Assembly Government spokeswoman said:

We appoint on merit and the best person for the job based on skills and experience. We do not have a policy of excluding individuals based on membership of the freemasons.

Candidates are not obliged to declare membership of the freemasons. The issue of Paul Williams’ membership of freemasons is viewed as a private matter.

I couldn't help but contact one anonymous insider that contacted me a while back on another issue. I was told that "one senior civil servant didn't get what they wanted for Christmas" which I think amusingly falls foul of the tradition of Secret Santa.

Merry Christmas everyone.

[Pippa Wagstaff is currently on a blogging break and hopes to return in the New Year]