AMs fail in bid to see ‘leak’ report

POLITICIANS have failed to get a report about an alleged leak concerning a ministerial reshuffle released.

Opposition groups in the Assembly tried to force the Welsh Government to release a report from their chief civil servant.

But the motion, by the Conservative group, failed with 26 votes for, 29 against and one abstention.

The report, by Dame Shan Morgan, found there was no unauthorised release of information from the Welsh Government before the reshuffle in which Carl Sargeant lost his job, days before he allegedly took his own life, but her report has not been published.

The Welsh Conservatives put forward a motion using a little-used section of law to see the report, accepting some details would be redacted.

On Monday evening, the Welsh Government said they would take legal action if the debate took place.

However, both Mark Drakeford AM, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, and Jeremy Miles AM, the Counsel General, said yesterday that the letter was only ever intended to postpone the debate until they clarify the legal position.

Tory leader Andrew RT Davies told the chamber that he accepted the report should be released in a redacted form to protect the “security and safety” of anyone who gave evidence as part of it.

But he said this was a “unique set of circumstances” and “vitally important” AMs can scrutinise the report.

In response, Labour AM Mr Miles said that while there was an “obvious difference of opinion” between Assembly and Government lawyers, the Government wanted it resolved “preferably without recourse to the courts”.

Mr Miles said there is a “long-standing practice of non-disclosure of leak investigation reports”.

He said if leak reports did have to be disclosed, it could stop people cooperating with future leak reports if they felt their details could be made public.

Mr Davies said the Government issuing a legal letter to the Assembly was wrong.

He said: “You were telling the Presiding Officer what she should do and by association you were telling the Assembly what to do. No democracy can function under that level of duress, I would suggest.

“It will be a very dark day if, after listening to the arguments I have put today, that members of the governing party on the backbenches do follow the whip and do listen to your arguments.

“Actually what you have implied is to ignore the law and just ride roughshod over what we govern by.”

After the vote, Plaid Cymru AM Adam Price said that it was “predictable but disappointing” the vote had failed.

He said that he now believed all attempts to force the Welsh Government to release the report had failed.

“In terms of this particular report I think the only thing we have got is moral suasion and that hasn’t worked so far,” said the AM.