10 staff are suspended in five years
OVER the last five years the Welsh Government has suspended 10 members of staff for reasons ranging from a “breach of security” and “theft” to “fraud” and “negligence leading to loss”.
In a letter to Welsh Conservative AM Darren Millar, Permanent Secretary Shan Morgan revealed that the suspensions ranged from 13 days to seven months and 21 days, costing £76,589 to the taxpayer. Other reasons for suspension included “conduct”, “breach of Civil Service Code”, “ICT breach” and “underperformance”.
The costs incurred were for pension contributions and national insurance costs throughout the suspension periods.
Mr Millar said: “Some of the reasons for these staff suspensions are alarming, particularly those relating to security breaches and fraud.
“In the interests of transparency, Ministers should provide more details of the alleged fraud, including the scale of any potential loss to the taxpayer, and disclose information on security breaches, especially where third party information may have been inappropriately divulged or lost.
“While the Welsh Labour Government has a duty to ensure that civil servants behave responsibly, and that poor performance and potential criminal behaviour is addressed swiftly, they also have an obligation to be fair to taxpayers and prevent matters from being swept under the carpet solely for the purpose of avoiding political embarrassment.”
A Welsh Government spokeswoman responded: “We take disciplinary matters very seriously and have robust HR policies in place which ensure staff breaches are dealt with in the appropriate way.”
There is no indication what was the outcome of the suspensions, although in the most serious instances the offenders will certainly have been dismissed.
Under employment law, there is an expectation that employees will be suspended on full pay when they face disciplinary action, although in cases of gross misconduct it is possible to dismiss workers at once. Even in such circumstances, however, they should be given an opportunity to put their case.
Last year it emerged that a Welsh Government credit card had been fraudulently used to spend £103.91 at lingerie shop Victoria’s Secret.
The money was returned but it was not said at the time if anyone had been disciplined.
A Freedom of Information Act disclosure revealed that £7.5m had been spent on Welsh Government credit cards between 2011 and 2016, with Monmouth Conservative AM Nick Ramsay saying some claims were “eyewatering”.
The Welsh Government said at the time that all purchases made on the cards were subject to audit.
The information request uncovered details of how the Welsh Government’s procurement cards are used.
Some £1.4m was spent on 237 Welsh Government cards in 2015/16.
It is not known when the payment was made to Victoria’s Secret, but it was some time during the 2015/16 financial year.
Last October Ms Morgan’s predecessor as Permanent Secretary Sir Derek Jones told an Assembly committee that officials in the Welsh Government could face disciplinary action after a court ordered it to pay £1.25m compensation over a contract it awarded.
Sir Derek said he was “deeply unhappy” about the “avoidable” payment, which was listed as a loss in the 2015-16 accounts. It came after the Welsh Government was challenged by an unsuccessful bidder over the contract decision.