CARL SARGEANT AM LATEST
THREE cabinet ministers raised concerns about the behaviour of someone in the Welsh Government during the period in which it has been claimed Carl Sargeant was bullied, we can reveal.
The Western Mail has spoken to several people who worked in different roles in the Welsh Government during 2014.
Our sources said that it was a confrontational period and that three cabinet ministers made complaints to the First Minister about one person. A fourth cabinet minister had previously made similar complaints.
First Minister Carwyn Jones has referred himself for investigation to James Hamilton, the Independent Adviser to the Scottish Government, over allegations that he misled the Assembly in November 2014 when he told AMs there had been no allegations of bullying reported to him and through his subsequent comments last month that the issues “were dealt with” at the time.
Our investigation suggests that one issue for the independent investigation will be whether the complaints in 2014 should have been treated as bullying even if the word itself was not used.
In answer to a written question from Conservative AM Darren Millar on November 11 on whether he had “received any reports of been made aware of allegations of bullying by special and or specialist advisers”, the Assembly’s record of proceedings show that Mr Jones answered “No”.
The row has developed following the apparent suicide of Carl Sargeant last month, four days after the Alyn and Deeside AM was removed from the Cabinet by Mr Jones over unspecified allegations of sexual harassment that he denied.
Mr Millar told AMs in a personal statement on Wednesday last week that he had asked the question on the instigation of late Communities Minister Mr Sargeant.
Mr Millar said Mr Sargeant told him in early October 2014 “he was unhappy because there was bullying going on within the Welsh Government which was coming from an individual in the First Minister’s office”.
He added: “This was taking a toll on him personally along with others”.
Former cabinet minister Leighton Andrews gave us extracts of his diaries from the period.
The diaries detail complaints being made about one person but do not use the word bullying.
The diaries describe an argument within the Welsh Government over the title of a bill being developed by Mr Sargeant, which would ultimately become the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Bill 2015 and the treatment of another Welsh Government staff member.
Mr Andrews, who had just returned to the cabinet as Minister for Public Services at the time of the complaints, refers to a meeting between Carl Sargeant and the First Minister on October 14 that year.
He writes: “I discussed it with Carl and Lesley [fellow minister Lesley Griffiths]. All of us are of the same mind. Carl met Carwyn yesterday evening. He has made it clear to him that there is a serious problem.”
His diary entries in November allege that Mr Andrews persisted in trying to put pressure on the First Minister to formally investigate the concerns.
He wrote on November 20: “It was clear that he didn’t want to have [the conversation about the concerns] and hoped it would go away .... I said I thought it was serious...I said the truth was that there was a breakdown of trust... that was destabilising to the government. He said, eventually, that he would make his investigation formal. I’ll believe that when I see it.”
On February 1, 2015 Mr Andrews wrote: “I still don’t know what, if anything, happened to his ‘formal’ inquiry.”
Our reporters have spoken to other sources who said they were comfortable with the description of events given by Mr Andrews.
Speaking to the Western Mail this week, Mr Andrews said: “On Tuesday, November 21 2017, the First Minister told the leader of Plaid Cymru at First Minister’s Questions
that concerns at the time did not relate to bullying, but to ‘issues of competing priorities, of people feeling that some people were listened to more than others and people feeling that they want to see you as First Minister to explain their position’. The First Minister’s answer is untrue. The issue I raised with him had nothing to do with ‘competing priorities, of people feeling that some people were listened to more than others’. My complaint related to deliberate attempts to undermine my move to change the title of the Gender-based Violence Bill to the Violence against Women Bill. He reluctantly agreed to arrange a formal inquiry into a specific factual complaint by me.”
He added: “Between September and November 2014 three Cabinet Ministers raised issues about a person in the First Minister’s Office.
“Those Ministers were myself, Lesley Griffiths, and Carl Sargeant. A fourth Cabinet Minister, Alun Davies, had previously raised related concerns when he was in government. We raised our concerns both directly with the First Minister and via another person who had been asked by the First Minister to look into matters informally.”
Mr Andrews said he was “beginning to question whether any investigation had been carried out”.
He said: “On November 11 2017, I wrote to the Permanent Secretary, under the Freedom of Information Act, asking for a copy of the report. I have now been told: ‘I can confirm that no notes or report relating to a formal investigation, as referred to in your request, are held.’
A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: “This contains no evidence to back up the initial allegations made by Mr Andrews and instead appears to move towards the First Minister’s own comments in relation to various and minor disputes that form part of any Government’s business. The First Minister has asked an independent adviser, James Hamilton, to look into the allegation that the he breached the Ministerial Code in relation to answers he gave to questions on November 11 2014 and November 14 2017. It will be for Mr Hamilton to decide whether Mr Andrews’ diary has any relevance at all to this.”
It is understood any claims of bullying have been vehemently denied.