Ministers’ £150,000 travel bill included trips to Euro 2016
WELSH Government ministers spent almost £150,000 travelling around the world last year.
The Welsh Government has to publish the cost of overseas travel which cost more than £500. The bill of £145,612 for nine ministers, including First Minister Carwyn Jones, is for the year 2016-17.
The bills are for a combination of charter flights, trains and businessclass plane tickets across Europe and other parts of the world.
It includes three ministers taking trips to the Euro 2016 football tournament and the hire of a charter plane for the First Minister to fly to see Wales play there.
Mr Jones, along with a private secretary and press officer, spent £10,035 on a trip to see Wales take on England in Lille on June 16.
At the time, the Welsh Government said what was then described as a £9,500 cost was put down to him needing to represent Wales at the game before travelling to Glasgow for a meeting of the British-Irish Council.
The papers also reveal that he travelled with Minister for Social Services and Public Health Rebecca Evans AM, and her private secretary on the return flight from Glasgow.
Mr Jones made a second trip to Lille for the game against Belgium and an event to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.
Ken Skates, who represents the economy and infrastructure portfolio, took two scheduled flights to attend the football tournament. His trip, along with a private secretary on a scheduled flight to see Wales v Russia in Toulouse, cost £1,980.
A second trip five days later, to Paris, cost £1,252.
Health, Wellbeing and Sport Secretary Vaughan Gething’s trip to Bordeaux to see Wales v Slovakia cost £1,775.
The most expensive trip on the list was £30,936 spent by Mr Jones, a private secretary, special adviser and press officer to go to Washington DC and New York on a scheduled flight in February this year.
The trip was to “meet with companies looking to invest in Wales and will discuss trade and business links with political representatives”.
A spokeswoman added at the time that he was also hosting a reception for the Year of Legends campaign.
When asked for clarification about the cost, the Welsh Government said that the trips are “packed with backto-back meetings” and that they need the space business class affords to work while travelling.
A trip by the First Minister to Atlanta and Chicago came with a cost of £17,056 for him and two members of staff.
The trip in May 2016 to Mumbai during the Tata Steel crisis cost £8,553.
Flights closer to home also came with a hefty price tag.
Paris trips cost between £974 and £1,223, and various trips by ministers to Brussels cost between £1,450 and £2,802.
A trip by Finance Minister Mark Drakeford on the train to Brussels with two members of staff came to £1,450.
A trip by Environment Secretary Lesley Griffiths to Luxembourg to the Agri-Fish Council along with one member of staff cost £1,567.
Travelling to Dublin for a meeting cost £1,091 for Mark Drakeford and two members of staff.
Education Secretary Kirsty Williams attending an education conference in Finland along with staff cost £2,622.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Welsh Government ministers travel to forge relationships with key overseas partners which benefit Wales and demonstrate our continued commitment to international trade and investment. Following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union this is more important than ever.
“As their schedules are packed with back-to-back meetings with CEOs of international companies, potential investors, and senior politicians from the moment the plane touches down, they sometimes travel business class. This provides the facilities and space they need to work while travelling and ensures they arrive well prepared and ready to sell Wales to the world.
“For three consecutive years inward investment to Wales has been at the highest levels ever recorded, creating and safeguarding tens of thousands of Welsh jobs. This would not have happened if ministers had stayed at a desk in Cardiff Bay.”
Chloe Westley, from TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers will be rightly angry that so much of their hard-earned money is being spent on these trips abroad for politicians and their staff. Of course, ministers may occasionally need to travel overseas for meetings but how can it be right for hard-pressed taxpayers to be paying for well-remunerated ministers to attend football matches? If ministers are so desperate to go and watch some footy then they should pay for it themselves.”