Is a belt-tightening pledge a winner?

WELSH Conservatives know that families across the nation in recent years have had to tighten their belts and the party seeks to show how it would govern with similar prudence if its shadow ministers found themselves in government.

Andrew RT Davies, the leader of the Welsh Conservatives, has pledged to axe “Labour’s millionpound ministerial cars”.

The party has learned running costs climbed from £120,430 in 2011-12 to £189,000 in 2014-15; the cost of drivers and support staff went up from £211,988 to £275,635.

With May’s Assembly elections looming, the Tories clearly want to brand themselves as the frugal party.

They would not make giant savings if they axed chauffeur-driven cars but it would send a signal to voters that they are serious about making the same type of moneysaving changes that many families have had to make.

It could also compel ministers to work even harder to ensure that sustainable public transport services are available across Wales. Lack of access to buses and other forms of transport is seen as a key cause of social exclusion, particularly in rural areas.

The end of the era of ministerial cars could force the AMs and their staff to push transport connections even higher up the agenda.

People desperate for a job often have to endure long and slow journeys to work. Such individuals deserve respect for making the effort, but they are also entitled to a transport network which enables them to play a full role in the economy.

There are major questions about the practicalities of scrapping the Welsh Government’s pool of cars.

Ministers work in vehicles and travel with officials who brief them on journeys. It is in the interests of voters and taxpayers that ministers make the best use of their time.

Furthermore, it is essential that the security of ministers and their staff is not jeopardised.

In addition, it would be highly regrettable if ministers grew reluctant to leave their offices to visit schools, factories, hospitals and offices across Wales because the ordeal of travel is too great.

It is important that the members of the next Welsh Government regularly escape the “Cardiff Bay bubble”.

The Conservatives will also be aware that they would come under fire if they scrapped the car pool but then spent a small fortune on taxis.

Nevertheless, it is important for AMs of all parties to recognise just how tough life is for thousands of people around Wales who earn less than the living wage. Wales’ position at the bottom of the UK pay table is not just an embarrassment but an indicator of hardship.

Mothers and fathers have to make tough spending choices to provide for their children, especially as Christmas approaches.

Everyone in the Assembly and the Welsh Government should remember that their wages are paid by taxpayers, far too many of whom have taken a cruel pounding in recent years and are rightly utterly intolerant of waste. The Western Mail newspaper is published by Media Wales a subsidiary company of Trinity Mirror PLC, which is a member of IPSO, the Independent Press Standards Organisation. The entire contents of The Western Mail are the copyright of Media Wales Ltd. It is an offence to copy any of its contents in any way without the company’s permission. If you require a licence to copy parts of it in any way or form, write to the Head of Finance at Six Park Street.

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