'Streamlining' reorganisation = reward for Assembly Government's Civil Servants

Serious questions are being asked today about a shake-up of senior civil servants within the Assembly Government that has led to more of them earning above £120,000.

Seven “director general” posts were created last year in a streamlining move aimed at cutting overall costs. But critics are unconvinced that the new arrangements are appropriate.

Concerns have also been raised about “back-up” appointments that risk eating into savings made as a result of the reorganisation.

It is understood, for example, that when Andrew Davies was Finance Minister, he resisted a request from Emyr Roberts – Director General, Public Services and Local Government Delivery – to appoint a Director of Public Services Delivery at a pay grade immediately below his own. We have now confirmed such an appointment is being made.

Meanwhile, concerns have also been raised about the general competence of civil servants.

A well-placed source said: “I have real worries about whether many of the senior civil servants we have in Wales are up to coping with primary lawmaking powers.

“It has been difficult to persuade people to go on attachment to Whitehall departments to broaden their experience. Imagine the value of spending some time working in the Treasury, for example.”

Professor Brian Morgan, of the Creative Leadership and Enterprise Centre at UWIC’s Cardiff School of Management, said: “It used to be the case that government departments had a permanent secretary with two deputy secretaries beneath them. that is obviously no longer enough for the Welsh Assembly Government.

“Now there are effectively seven deputy secretaries, all on salaries of over £120,000. In Whitehall terms, the Assembly is a small department and it makes no sense to have so many chiefs.”

Last November, the Permanent Secretary, Dame Gill Morgan, told the Institute of Welsh Affairs in an interview that she had reorganised management structure so senior civil servants working for the Assembly could communicate on equal terms with their counterparts in Whitehall departments.

Previously, there had been 16 executive members of a management board, although in addition to the Permanent Secretary only one had been designated a senior director.

Prof Morgan said: “This idea that you need to look people in the eye from a position of equal status and inflated salary is absolutely ridiculous. You gain respect by the strength of what you are saying and how you say it, not because of the status you hold. If you have to rely on some artificial status, it suggests you are not up to the job you are doing.

“The status argument can be taken further. If each director general is responsible on average for 20 senior civil servants, and they meet someone on the same pay grade in Whitehall who has 55 senior civil servants answerable to them, they are going to want more people in their empire.”
Prof Morgan said creating such a large number of directors general was a variation on Parkinson’s Law – a satirical creation which states that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

“Having a top-heavy structure like this must have an impact on morale lower down,” he said.
Asked whether he thought senior civil servants in Wales were up to running an administration with primary lawmaking powers, Prof Morgan said: “It seems to me that civil servants who have come up through the Welsh Office have not had any experience anywhere else. Often they’ve relied on Buggins’ turn for promotion. I don’t want to state categorically that they’re not up to dealing with primary powers. We will have to see.”

Professor Kevin Morgan of Cardiff University, who chaired the Yes For Wales referendum campaign in 1997, said: “There is unprecedented pressure on the public purse, with what has been referred to as two Parliaments of pain ahead of us.

“The biggest challenge of all is how to achieve sustainability and fairness in the face of a decade of austerity.

“It is quite clear there is a need in Wales for us to fully acknowledge the extent to which we have screwed up in terms of costs and structures in the public sector.

“There is really deep disquiet about the scale of local government, with 22 councils, and how we then copied that with 22 local health boards. When that reorganisation took place, chief executives and finance directors were appointed, but when the number of health boards came back down to eight, they were allowed to keep their jobs.

“For ordinary people in Wales – and I count myself among them – what has happened beggars belief. We have to get things right in the public sector.”

On the question of whether senior civil servants are up to handling primary lawmaking powers, Prof Morgan said: “Hope springs eternal. It will certainly make more exacting demands on the current structure of the Assembly Government. I’m not sure people have really thought about this in the detail we should.

“Ultimately, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.”

A spokesman for the Permanent Secretary said: “The number of directors has decreased by over 25% since the restructuring of the senior Civil Service last year. This reduction has achieved savings of over £500,000 and reflects our commitment to a structured reduction in the number of senior civil servant posts over time.

“We do intend to appoint a Director for Public Service Improvement as part of a review of the Public Services and Performance department. This position will ensure we continue to deliver the Government’s ambitious public service improvement agenda, and is particularly important given the current financial pressures facing the public sector. The creation of this position will be accompanied by a reduction of seven senior Civil Service posts as part of the departmental review. This reduction represents a further net saving to the Assembly Government of just under £100,000.

“As a dynamic organisation, there will inevitably be further internal changes as we continue to reflect and deliver government commitments. Any appointment has to be justified by a comprehensive business case, and is fully considered by the independently chaired remuneration committee.

“Our skills strategy has been rated third of all UK government departments, and we are confident that we have the skills, capability and capacity to fully support ministers in delivering their commitments to the people of Wales.”

A Sad Day for Devolution

The plenary meeting of the national assembly has been called off as a strike by civil and public servants continues for a second day, which could be described as a simple case of one step forward and two steps back for devolution in Wales.

Is democracy this fragile?

Up to 20,000 workers in Wales are expected to take part in the second day of a UK-wide industrial action over changes to redundancy terms.

It has caused the assembly to postpone Tuesday's scheduled meeting of all members until Wednesday morning, which must surely put back other business that was due to be discussed.

The UK government insists the new rules are "fair" to both staff and taxpayers.
The 48-hour stoppage by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union is affecting job centres, courts and the Welsh Assembly Government.

An assembly spokesperson said plenary would be held throughout the day on Wednesday.

This will allow the planned business for the week, both government and opposition, to be completed.

In reality, Assembly business will be behind and members would've lost an entire day, and all thanks to the weak decision of certain political parties in the National Assembly. PCS members will understandably lose two days pay for striking, but will Assembly Members lose out on pay? You'll always find there's plenty of backbench constituency work to do on days like this... problem solved!

Bonus* Bonanza Balls up

Just when politicians are having to bite the bullet over expenses, it seems that the tide has not turned in other parts of the Assembly. It appears that others are slow to catch on when it comes to the general mood of the public.

The Welsh assembly official overseeing substantial cuts in AMs' expenses received at least £15,000 extra pay in the last year, it has emerged.

Chief executive Claire Clancy's salary rose from a salary range of up to £125,000 to at least £140,000.

The assembly said it reflected a bonus from a previous year and, as Ms Clancy and the directors had given up their bonuses, her pay would fall next year.

The pay of another senior official also rose by at least £15,000 in 2008-09.

Assembly members agreed last month to make substantial cuts in their expenses, including scrapping interest payments on mortgages for second homes and linking their salaries to changes in average earnings.

According to the assembly's annual report, in the last financial year Ms Clancy's salary was between £140,000 and £145,000, compared to £120,000 to £125,000 in 2007-08.

An assembly spokesman said the higher figure included a deferred final bonus payment from the previous year, under different rules.

The spokesman said:

Because the bonuses have now stopped, the figures published in the accounts for the current financial year (2009/10) will show...the chief executive's actual income dropping during 2009-10 compared to 2008-09, from the salary range £140,000-145,000 to £135,000-140,000.

The report says the second highest-ranking official, chief operating officer Dianne Bevan, enjoyed a salary rise of between £5,000 and £15,000.

She was paid within a scale of £115,000 to £120,000 in 2008-09 compared to £105,000 to £110,000 in the previous year.

Her salary next year is likely to stay the same under the new rules.

* not technically a bonus, but a welcome 'bonus' all the same.

Finally, in Wales... thanks again to a Freedom of Information request

As if by strange coincidence the expenses system for Welsh civil servants is to be reviewed to ensure it provides value for money. What good timing after a recent freedom of information request that uncovered their credit card spending.

The assembly government's top civil servant will lead the examination.

A spokesperson for Permanent Secretary Dame Gillian Morgan said the expenses of politicians and civil servants were "clearly a matter of public interest".

It was earlier revealed officials promoting Welsh business abroad claimed £750,000 on 35 corporate credit cards over the last year.

Dame Gillian's spokesperson added: "Any claim incurred on behalf of the assembly government must comply with strict authorisation and audit requirements.

"The First Minister and Deputy First Minister have discussed this matter and have asked the permanent secretary to examine the expenses system for civil servants working for the Welsh assembly government to ensure its appropriateness and to ensure transparency and continued value for money."

The quarterly expenses of the permanent secretary and director generals [what about the other hundred odd senior civil servants?] will be published soon and then be published regularly.

An independent panel has already proposed drastic reductions in the expenses Welsh assembly members can claim.

This blog has been concerned about the spending of civil servants for some time:

• Civil servants take 10 'freebies' each February 2009
• Welsh Assembly Government: Money for old rope February 2009
• Are the Senior Civil Service in Wales earning their salaries? October 2008
• Two years since Rhodri's ‘bonfire’ - Was it all worth it? August 2008
• Wales' biggest winners: Criticism of bonuses awarded to top civil servants in Wales July 2008
• Balancing the books on public finances in Wales July 2008
• Civil Service v Politicians: That old question of pay July 2008

Gun to the head blows "bits and pieces"

Following on from Monday, the Presiding Officer Dafydd Elis-Thomas has said the Assembly Commission had agreed to all the report's proposals.

The commission, which includes representatives from all four parties, took the decision on behalf of AMs.

Sir Roger Jones's report, Getting it Right for Wales, followed a 10-month investigation of the pay and expenses of AMs.

The report's implementation will mean

• After the next assembly election in 2011, AMs will no longer be able to claim mortgage interest on second homes.
• Some 25 of them will, however, be able to rent accommodation within five miles of the assembly in Cardiff Bay, half the number of AMs currently entitled to a second home allowance.
• AMs will not be able to employ family members in future but any existing arrangements will continue.
• The current link between AMs' pay and MPs' salaries will also be broken.
• AMs' salaries will be increased in line with inflation next year and in future be linked to changes in average earnings in Wales.
• The current "daily allowance" of £30.65 for members on assembly business to spend on meals will also be scrapped "as soon as possible".
  

Lord Elis-Thomas said work would begin "immediately" on implementing the changes.

That these changes have been endorsed during the year in which we mark the tenth anniversary of devolution is a testament to the assembly's maturity and is a signal that the assembly is committed to operating in ways that are right for Wales.

[The report] addresses the contentious issues of remuneration and financial support - issues which have been such a stumbling block to people truly engaging in the democratic process.

But of equal importance, it places a strong emphasis on ensuring the capacity of the assembly and Members to undertake our work - to represent the interests of Wales and its people, make laws for Wales and hold the Welsh government to account.

Earlier, Conservative AM and commission member William Graham told the BBC Wales am.pm that the plans "were agreed with ease" at a meeting on Tuesday evening.

Labour commissioner Lorraine Barrett said there were "bits and pieces" in the report that not all AMs would like, but "you can't unpick it".

Will it be panel beating of a different kind?

An independent panel investigating pay and expenses among members of the Welsh assembly is about to report back.

The findings will come after almost a year of investigation and following recent controversies over expenses.

Panel members have held more than 20 meetings - including two in public - and compared procedures at other parliamentary bodies.

The panel say the aim is to reward AMs fairly for their work, but with the emphasis on transparency.

"We have adopted a number of principles to guide us in our work. One of these is that our recommendations must be based on evidence," said Sir Roger Jones, who chairs the panel.

"We want to get this right - to ensure not only that any new system of pay and allowances is fair, transparent, and recognises and rewards AMs' skills, but also that it provides value for money."
The panel was established in August last year to "look at all aspects of financial support available to AMs."

The independent review panel includes chair Sir Roger Jones, pro-chancellor at Swansea University, Jackie Nickson, a senior human resources manager, Nigel Rudd, the former chief executive of the East Midlands Regional Assembly, and Dafydd Wigley, the former Plaid Cymru president.

Hearing on pay equality in the Department for Transport

Preperations are made for a tribunal hearing on pay equality in the Department for Transport (DfT).

The case involves Executive Officers (EO) in the Driver and vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) who are seeking equal pay with driving examiners from the Driving Standards Agency (DSA).

For information, EOs are paid up to £5k less than examiners, even though they do work of equal value. The hearing is expected to be over a few weeks with an estimate end date of 22 May 2009.

The DfT's Defence:

... is one of arguing that the DVLA and DSA are seperate organisations whose pay is determined from different sources.

The other side:

This ignores the fact that both agencies are based within the DfT which is overseen by the Treasury which controls Civil Service pay. Unions have argues that if this defence is succesful, it will be used across the civil service to block equal pay claims.

Bonuses not just for banks

The following is an anonymous question from a civil servant requesting legal advice from a well-known trade union. I only wish I was making it up, or that it was sent with lashings of irony. Let's hope that the recent talk of cuts creates a dent in the bonuses of Assembly fat cats.

Q I am used to receiving an end of year bonus but I didn't get one this time. Am I entitled to it?

A You are only entitled to a bonus if it is specified in your contract. If you have been receiving a bonus for many years, it may be possible to argue that it has become custom and practice and therefore an unwritten part of your contract, in which case a non-payment could amount to an unlawful deduction of wages. But you would need to have all the facts about why it has not been paid before raising the issue with your manager. Discuss the situation with your PCS rep before doing anything further.

[Source: PCS Union]

Unions achieving very little for staff in lower grades

Are Trade Unions worth joining in 2009? Do members actually see a benefit, or is it just piece of mind; the thought and probable safety you may feel in being part of a crowd; being a member of a 'safety net' organisation that is bigger than one person - just in case?

Subscriptions to the average trade union is as follows:

Gross salary/Monthly subscription
£10,000 / £5
£12,000 / £6
£14,000 / £7
£18,000 / £9
£20,000 / 10

Case Study from the point of view of a junior civil servant

After 23 years in teaching, followed by 11 years in the private sector, in 2001 I joined the Ministry of Defence.

Being over 60 I have no intention of seeking promotion, and the small pay rise that would go with it, as I simply don't want the hassle.

Although it was my decision to join the civil service I am continually shocked at how low our pay is. After seven years I take home just £1,032 a month.

I don't begrudge those who are higher paid. But I do think that to pay thousands of us so badly is a national disgrace. I am fortunate being in a 'double income - no kids' household. How on earty parents with young families survive I do not know. [name and address supplied]

[In comparison, MOD salaries are higher than that of those working for the Welsh Assembly Government]

Double Standards

Industrial action has been the talk for some time and civil servant members of the PCS union voted by a majority to take industrial action to defend pay. Mark Serwotka, General Secretary of the PCS union has this to say:

For years we have heard ministers and business leaders urging us to be restrained over pay claims. We were told that low pay rises are the key to low inflation and a stable economy. But now we have rising inflation, rising unemployment and a serious economic crisis.

Surprise, surprise, the Chancellor's answer is still pay restraint, or more accurately, pay cuts. Sir Gus O'Donnell, head of the civil service, and the permanent secretaries, tell us that there is no money for fair pay rises because of the current problems in the economy.

What angers me about this argument is how one-sided it is. In the first place, it clearly doesn't apply to the five figure bonuses* some senior civil servants have received.

* Senior civil servants can get as much as £40,000 in bonuses

[Pippa Wagstaff is currently on a blogging break]

Are the Senior Civil Service in Wales earning their salaries?

This post has been in my inbox for some time. Other events have taken over and we seem to forget - far too quickly - how much our public servants earn in relation to the majority of the population. Since Amanwy has now pointed out the latest in the Assembly Government hierarchy, which is the brain-child of new Permanent Secretary Dame Gillian Morgan, I've decided to finish this post.

The Welsh Assembly Government have announced a major re-organisation at Senior level of the civil service in Cathays Park. A new layer of senior civil servants will be created in an effort to join-up government. A policy-performance-bridge between the existing heads and the Permanent Secretary. They are to be called Director General posts, with each earning a salary of £130,000 (I expect there to be a tagline of 'more available, depending on experience' added in somewhere). Expected themed responsibility will cover: Sustainable Futures; Public Services and Local Government Delivery; People, Places and Corporate Services; and Finance. Under each Director General will be the corresponding existing departments, divisions, and branches.

In an ideal world, the Assembly Government will look to outside the Assembly in order to fill these new roles, and not look to reward those that are already stagnating in their current roles within the Cathays Park-based civil service. I can only imagine how many of the existing heads will be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of promotion. This may prove to be a consolation prize for some, and only time will tell how many of them will be positioning themselves for these new roles. There are a few that had their noses put out of joint when Dame Gillian Morgan - an outsider - was put in charge back in May.

Not taking into account that dreaded word 'bonuses', the 30 highest-paid civil servants in the Welsh Assembly Government together earn at least £3.3m, the Western Mail revealed in August of this year. This new announcement is - in no doubt - partly a way to reinvigorate our perception of the civil service by bringing in 'a welcome relief' at the same time as a fresh approach, far removed from the old management style of Sir Jon Shortridge. There's no more mileage in the romantic mantra of "Don't go changing to try and please me, I love you just the way you are." Dame Gillian Morgan wants to be seen as a manager promoting something radical within the civil service - concentrating on delivery with a different approach to her predecessor, and putting to bed the theory and rumour that she's going to concentrate too much on health in Wales, given her background.

Whatever the reason, laden with good intention, some will see this as an extra layer of bureaucracy and pure empire building of old-school proportions; or even a career-laden structure to progression for senior managers within Cathays Park. I'm a healthy cynic and also believe that Dame Gillian thinks that there's too many at the top table. Weekly/monthly meetings are taken up by too many items on the agenda, and wants to keep the talking to the few. Departments are difficult to downsize, so are kept the same. The Director General 'bridges' should be able to carry forward the right messages to the top-dog in each, and via these new bridges, the message should be carried forward without fuss to the department heads below. Sadly, as noses will be put out of joint in the process, people will largely forget that those that lead the divisions will remain the same, subject to any knock-on promotion.

Being seen to look outside the Assembly and advertise externally for new talent may be seen as forward thinking, however, the wind is taken out of its sails when you find out this is not new thinking, but common public sector practice.

The salary may very well reflect the roles, but more emphasis needs to be placed on measuring whether a good job has been done in each senior civil service role. At the moment this is only carried out internally, and sometimes by the media taking pot shots - occasionally in the dark.

The obligatory public relations guff that follows the installment of these new top-dogs will soon disappear, and when the air clears, all we're left with is a layer of 'strategic geniuses' that, in time, turn out to be another layer in the silo that make little difference to policy ideas and performance when those that command the middle ranking troops remain the same.

The data shows top civil servants continue to earn significantly more than the Assembly Government Ministers responsible for policy.

The First Minister receives £78,355 on top of a basic AM’s salary of £50,692. Cabinet members are paid a top-up of £40,645.

Corin Taylor of the Taxpayers’ Alliance said: “If you’re spending a great deal of taxpayers’ money you should be accountable for what you do and how you are remunerated. If people are doing a good job and their details are out in the open we won’t begrudge them.”

Ten of the 30 civil servants with the largest salaries work in health divisions:

At the top of the list

1. Dame Gillian Morgan, the Permanent Secretary (between £160,000 and £165,000)

2. Ann Lloyd, Chief Executive of NHS Wales (between £160,000 and £165,000)

3. Dr Tony Jewell, Chief Medical Officer (between £155,000 and £160,000)

4. Gareth Hall, Director of the Department for the Economy and Transport - former WDA (between £135,000 and £140,000)

5. Dr Gwyn Thomas, who, as director of Informing Healthcare, is charged with encouraging better use of information in the NHS.

6. Jeff Buggle (£130,000- £135,000) and Bob Hudson (£120,000-£125,000) – both directors in the department for health and social services.

8. Dr Christine Daws Finance Director (between £115,000 and £120,000)

9. Simon Dean, Director of Service Delivery and Performance Management, Health and Social Services Department. (between £115,000 and £120,000)

10. Derek Griffin, Chief Executive of CAFCASS Cymru, the body which looks after the interests of children involved in family law proceedings (between £115,000 and £120,000)

11. Bernard Galton, HR Director (between £110,000 and £115,000)

12. Martin Sykes, Chief Executive of Value Wales (between £110,000 and £115,000)
13. Richard Davies, Director of the Department for Public Services and Performance, Mike Hopkins, head of the lifelong learning and providers division, and Dr Jane Wilkinson, deputy chief medical officer, are all paid between £105,000 and £110,000.

Of the next 15 top-paid officials, six are on between £100,000 and £105,000, and the remaining nine, between £95,000 and £100,000.

Democracy improves by 8.3%

No doubt blogs in Wales will be shrieking about the proposals by the Assembly Commission to give AMs a pay rise well above inflation. The standard criticisms will be aired: 'public service workers are getting a much smaller increase' and 'why are AMs getting so much when they have so little authority?'

It is worth stopping to listen to Dafydd Elis-Thomas, the Presiding Officer of the Assembly. Defending the pay rise proposals he said: "This is the cost of Welsh democracy. We need informed, businesslike, democratic scrutiny." While it is true that we need informed, businesslike and democratic scrutiny, how will this be achieved by stuffing the mouths of AMs with more gold?

To have informed and businesslike scrutiny we do need to attract decent people to the Senedd with a decent wage. If democratic and informed scrutiny is required then why not spend the money recruiting a few extra AMs to increase capacity? Starting to sound a bit familiar? Well, yes, it's exactly what the Richard Commission recommended years ago.

New Labour has never been particularly warm to the concept of devolution. Tony Blair didn't go along with the Richard Commission's findings and it is unlikely Gordon Brown will agree. Welsh MPs in Westminster weren't particularly happy with proposals to increase the number of AMs either. Perhaps Welsh MPs are more concerned about their jobs than the good of Welsh democracy, which is a running theme at the moment...

Update 16:07: Six Plaid AMs to refuse pay rise