Welsh Government spends £1.7m on special advisers in just one year

The Welsh Government has spent £1.7m on special advisers in just one year, including nearly £500,000 in severance payments

The Welsh Government has paid £1.7m for their special advisers for the year up until April this year, more than double what it paid a year earlier. Wales' First Minister Eluned Morgan revealed the huge bill in a written statement to the Senedd.

Known as SpAds, advisers deliver party political advice and support to ministers, services that would not be suitable coming from the neutral civil service. According to the statement, the total cost of the Welsh Government's special advisers to the taxpayer stood at £1.77m for the fiscal year 2023/24, including £479,714 in severance payments a 112% rise from the £835,840 total in 2019/20.

The contracts of all special advisers were terminated following the departure of former first minister Mark Drakeford in March, as per the standard contract for special advisers. Some advisers have since been rehired, resulting in the recoupment of £189,000, which reduces the net severance payments to approximately £290,000.

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However, these figures exclude projections for the fiscal year 2024/25, during which Vaughan Gething stepped down and the appointment of Wales' third first minister within the year. In her statement, Baroness Morgan pointed out: "Special advisers add a political dimension to the advice and assistance available to ministers while reinforcing the political impartiality of the permanent civil service by distinguishing the source of political advice and support. ".

"They are appointed by the first minister to help ministers on matters where the work of government and the work of the government party overlap and where it would be inappropriate for permanent civil servants to become involved."

Some of the appointments are linked to the now-defunct cooperation agreement with Plaid Cymru, according to which the Welsh Government had 18 special advisers during part or all of the 2023/24 financial year. This equated to 14 full-time equivalent positions.

The standard salary for these advisers is set between £57,740 and £75,705 annually, while senior special advisers earn from £75,000 to £88,130.