Taxpayers’ millions unspent: Welsh Government accused of ‘terrible complacency’
The Welsh Government has been urged to apologise for “letting Wales down and undermining our Welsh democracy” after a new report revealed that mismanagement of public accounts had resulted in significant losses for essential public services.
A report released by the Senedd’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee found that £155.5 million could have been utilised to fund essential public services in Wales – at a time when there are serious pressures on public funding.
However the Welsh government failed to spend the £155.5 million by March 2021 and had to give it back to the UK government.
Other issues raised in the report include concerns about record-keeping, such as an £80,000 payment made to the former Permanent Secretary and errors in the COVID-19 business grants scheme.
A payment made to the former Permanent Secretary, and arrangements around the current Permanent Secretary’s salary, raise a number of issues regarding the documentation of decision making and record keeping by the Welsh Government.
A payment of £80,519 was made to the former Permanent Secretary on her departure. This included £31,843 as payment in lieu of notice, £9,553 in unused annual leave and an extra-contractual payment of £39,123.
The Committee expressed concern over inadequate record-keeping regarding the decision-making process, leading to a lack of clarity and insufficient opportunity for scrutiny regarding the payment.
Additionally, the Welsh Government failed to provide the Auditor General with sufficient contemporaneous evidence to justify the payment made on the former Permanent Secretary’s departure and to establish any changes to her working arrangements.
Opposition parties have accused the Welsh Government of “terrible complacency”.
Plaid Cymru Finance spokesperson, Llyr Gruffydd MS, has called on the Welsh Government to apologise for “letting Wales down and undermining our Welsh democracy” after a Senedd Committee report raised a number of serious issues with the accounts for 2020/21.
He criticised the Welsh Government for “terrible complacency in such challenging times” and for fuelling accusations of “a cosy club that sees itself as being above scrutiny”.
Plaid Cymru Finance spokesperson, Llyr Gruffydd said: “Our public services are close to breaking point.
“The Labour Government tell us they are doing all they can to protect services, and rightly criticise Westminster for its unfair funding rules.
“But this report shows that £155.5 million could have been used to fund essential public services but, inexplicably, the Welsh Government allowed Westminster to claw it back. This is terrible complacency in such challenging times.
“Lack of transparency and poor record keeping in the transition from one permanent secretary to another will only fuel accusations of a cosy club that sees itself as being above scrutiny.
“There needs to be full accountability when it comes to the use of taxpayers’ money and the employment of leading officials.
“The Labour Government should apologise for letting Wales down and undermining our Welsh democracy. We need certainty that Ministers are taking steps to ensure this can never happen again.”
Commenting on the Welsh Parliament’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee’s report, Peter Fox MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Finance Minister, said:”Throughout 2020 Welsh Conservatives were pushing the Labour Government to get money out the door to support families and businesses, and to think about how to kick start the Welsh economy post pandemic.
“Repeatedly they were told they were wrong and now this report makes it clear that they were right.
“However, this doesn’t stop the pain and hurt that was caused when grants were denied and livelihoods placed under more pressure.
“There are still many questions to be answered around the backroom dealings in the Labour Government and why they don’t believe the Welsh people deserve honesty and transparency.
“I hope this report acts as a wakeup call for action.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “The Finance Minister has made clear that the actions of the UK Treasury on this issue were wholly unacceptable.
“We stayed within our overall control total but the UK Government refused a switch between revenue and capital budgets, a process which has been agreed many times before.
“Our underspends during the exceptional 2020-21 financial year were very significantly below those of UK Government departments and our focus on achieving value for money meant we didn’t have the scandals of PPE contracts as we saw in England.
“The Treasury’s arbitrary application of its guidance in this instance was deeply regrettable and left Wales deprived of £155 million.”
“We welcome the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee’s ongoing scrutiny of the Welsh Government’s 2020-21 annual accounts.”
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