- Tories target £1billion of Welsh Government “waste” over the last decade.
- Conservatives want to set up an Office of Government Resilience & Efficiency (unfortunate acronym of OGRE).
- Labour criticises UK Government budget management, but are accused of wanting it both ways when calling for additional spending in Wales.
“Somebody once told me….”
The Senedd:
- Notes that successful management of taxpayers’ money depends on clear objectives, good governance and effective scrutiny.
- Regrets more than £1 billion has been wasted by successive Welsh Governments on defunct policies, abandoned projects and overspending since 2010 and further regrets that potentially good policies have been allowed to wither due to a lack of buy-in and short-term decision-making.
- Calls upon the Welsh Government to establish a cross-departmental office to drive a culture change, challenge decision-making and ensure value for money for taxpayers.
“Hey now, you’re an all star….”
Shadow Minister for Government Resilience, Angela Burns MS (Con, Carms. W. & S. Pembs.) said the debate had a simple and clear message: “Don’t waste taxpayers’ money”. Some of the examples listed were enterprise zones, cost overruns of A465 dualling and support for Cardiff Airport.
The tragedy was that while this money was wasted, good projects end prematurely because of lack of funding.
“I have read endless committee reports, Wales Audit Office reports, health board reports, external organisation reports, third sector reports, think tank and research reports. Again and again, the same themes emerge: lack of capacity, lack of capability, lack of sustainability, lack of consistency, lack of focus, lack of objectives, lack of scrutiny, lack of value for money.”
– Shadow Minister for Government Resilience, Angela Burns MS
Caroline Jones MS (Ind, South Wales West) argued that faith in politics would only be restored once waste is eliminated and governments become more open and transparent. These comments were echoed by Leader of the Opposition, Paul Davies MS (Con, Preseli Pembs.), who wanted to see an end to “silo working”, believing New Zealand’s independent policy advisory group provides a template for Wales.
Neil McEvoy MS (Ind, South Wales Central) criticised spending on the third sector, which has led to “duplication and top-heavy management” linking it to “Labour largesse and cronyism”.
While Rhianon Passmore MS (Lab, Islwyn) pointed out examples of UK Government/Conservative waste and excessive public borrowing. Shadow Finance Minister, Nick Ramsay MS (Con, Monmouth), thought it was a bit rich for Labour to criticise borrowing when they persistently call for more money from the UK Government – they couldn’t have it both ways.
“Get the show on, get paid….”
Finance Minister & Trefnydd, Rebecca Evans (Lab, Gower), said the Welsh Government were transparent on public spending through the publication of supplementary budgets. While acknowledging there have been high profile incidences of waste, they were the exception rather than the rule.
“Delivering value for money is ultimately reliant on sound budget management….I’ve previously described numerous examples of the UK Government’s failure to adhere to the statement of funding policy, which has made the Welsh Government worse off – from eleventh-hour capital reductions to pension funding shortfalls.”
– Finance Minister & Trefnydd, Rebecca Evans
“All that glitters is gold….”
