Welsh Government spends £1.7m on ‘SpAds’

The Welsh Government revealed a £1.7m pay bill for special advisers in the year to April, including £479,000 in severance payments.

Wales’ first minister Eluned Morgan provided details of the political appointments in a written statement to the Senedd on October 3.

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Special advisers, or SpAds as they are known, provide party political advice and support to ministers that would be inappropriate for the impartial civil service to give.

The statement put the total cost to the taxpayer of Welsh Government special advisers at £1.77m in 2023/24, including £479,714 in severance payments.

Compared with 2019/20 when the bill totalled £835,840, spending on SpAds is up 112%.

When former first minister Mark Drakeford departed in March, the contracts for all special advisers ceased in line with the model contract for special advisers.

Some special advisers were reappointed, so £189,000 will be recovered, leaving a net cost of about £290,000 for severance payments.

‘Political dimension’

However, the statement does not include details for 2024/25 which saw a second first minister stand down over summer with Wales’ third first minister of the year appointed.

Baroness Morgan wrote: “Special advisers add a political dimension to the advice and assistance available to ministers while reinforcing the political impartiality of the permanent civil service by distinguishing the source of political advice and support.

“They are appointed by the first minister to help ministers on matters where the work of government and the work of the government party overlap and where it would be inappropriate for permanent civil servants to become involved.”

Some of the appointments relate to the now-collapsed cooperation agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.

The Welsh Government employed 18 special advisers for all or part of the 2023/24 financial year, equating to 14 full-time equivalent posts.

Standard special advisers’ salaries range from £57,740 to £75,705 a year while the pay band for senior special advisers is between £75,000 and £88,130.