Labour MS blasted over ‘wasteful’ taxpayer funded food researcher job
Emily Price
A Welsh Labour backbencher has been slammed after advertising a £45,000 a year taxpayer funded Senedd role for a staffer to research what people eat in Cardiff.
Cardiff Central MS Jenny Rathbone published the job advertisement on the Senedd’s website on Wednesday (November 5).
The 75-year-old Labour politician is seeking a ‘Food policy researcher’ to investigate food distribution in Cardiff as well as what people living in Wales’ capital ate during World War 2.
The researcher will also be asked to investigate who is growing food on agricultural land surrounding the city.
The job advertisement does not specify why the research is being carried out.
The 21 hour a week “remote / field work” job opportunity offers a salary of between 32,351 – £45,380 – although the role is expected to last 3 months.
The successful candidate will be required to: “Identify best practice amongst public, private and community stakeholders currently growing or distributing food in Cardiff and the opportunities for expansion.
“Use best practice drawn from other parts of Wales or elsewhere to identify initiatives to reduce the number of households who never cook from scratch and any evaluation on how this improved their wellbeing.
“Research how Cardiff used to feed itself in the days before ‘Just In Time’ distribution of food became the norm and how this informed the dominant food culture. What did Cardiff eat during WW2, and where was it grown; allegedly when citizens were physically healthier than at any time before or since.
“Investigate who currently owns the Grade I, 2 and 3a BMV land surrounding Cardiff, the amount being used to grow food and the extent of the vulnerability of this BMV land to be repurposed for other uses.”
Stepping down
The Welsh Conservatives branded Rathbone’s Cardiff food researcher role a waste of taxpayers’ cash.
Tory MS Tom Giffard: “This is not surprising coming from the takeaway-hating, anti-meal deal, pro-salt and fat taxing Labour MS who once called Blaenau Gwent ‘the capital of obesity’.
“Instead of spending taxpayers’ money on an advisor to help Labour learn how to tell people how to live their lives, they should ditch the nanny state nonsense and fix Welsh public services.”
Rathbone was elected to the then National Assembly in May 2011 after defeating the Liberal Democrats in the Cardiff Central seat but announced in February that “after much reflection” she would not be seeking re-election next year.
During her time in the Senedd her interests have focused on the climate emergency and Wales’ public health emergency which she says has been “exacerbated by our unhealthy diets”.
‘Committed’
Nation.Cymru contacted Jenny Rathbone and asked why she was employing someone to research food on her behalf just months before she planned to step down.
We also contacted the Senedd and asked why taxpayers money was being spent on a three month long food researcher role for an MS who is set to leave politics in five months.
Ms Rathbone said: “Thank you for your interest in my Senedd work. I have worked with the Senedd’s HR team to ensure that this role is permissible under the determination.
“I am committed to an open and fair recruitment process to get the best person for the role.
“This short-term role will ensure that the expertise I have built up over 15 years of policy work on improving food security in Wales is available for use by future Senedd Members.
“This is not some minor matter. The World Economic Forum, the Financial Times and the university research community are flagging up that the changing climate is seriously impacting future food security.”
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Yes it is a waste of money because it’s common knowledge that the junk food epidemic is causing massive health problems.
Simply tax junk food to an extent that covers the costs for the NHS in suffering the consequences.
And you really think that will stop people eating junk food? It will just make them much poorer. The problem is much much worse. People have no basic cooking skills anymore. It’s the result of ripping people from the land and making them dependent on supermarkets.
How about paying someone to see how people working on the land cook compared to others in the urban areas?
As Rhufawn below recognises, it is way more complicated than getting the UK government to put a UPF tax on the food industry that focuses on the bottom line, and leaves it to the NHs to clear up the consequences.
Good food for all communities needs to be more central to politics. It is a massive social justice issue as poor diet affects mood, learning and ability to cope with life’s challenges
Jenny, you know very well that your administration has all that already covered. The role of the children’s commissioner deals with childhood obesity and of course there is the commission powers within the Future Generations Act. This additional role is just creating another flopsy with no statutory remit. There’s a whole scientific and public policy eco-system dealing with this matter in academia and existing policy throughout the world, even that of the London borough of Islington where you were a councillor. You are just creating a taxpayer funded mouthpiece to project your personal opinions. Even if it conflicts with current… Read more »
Brychan,
you’ll get to decide which party is best placed to take this forward in May. In the meantime the idea that the Children’s Commissioner can solve this by shouting about it is for the birds. This is a systemic problem that affects most aspects of policy. There are some disturbing links between poor diet and Alzheimer’s which I won’t have time to explore but certainly needs investigating further.
What we eat is one of the most important things of all, but of course the Tories don’t care what ordinary people eat – or what happens to them as a result. Good job Jenny Rathbone, unlike some people in the Senedd she’s not doing things for her own benefit but for the benefit of ordinary people.
“Not for her own benefit”, she had nothing to do with her husband getting a job with Bute Energy as an advisor for a company that has drawn criticism from many people in Wales.
Her register of interests list links to sustainable food and energy bodies, her share holdings lists some companies that are odds with that.
I’m usually disposed to be scornful of any whinge from Tory politicians who appear to be too often routinely dismissive of any expenditure other than that which funnels public money into their own expenses account. We’ve seen one allegation of this nature very recently, although of course the politician concerned is now no longer a Conservative!
But is this sort of thing really something that an MS who isn’t a government minister should be in a position to commission? Or have I got something wrong here?
I read it as, she cares about people and poverty and wants to do something about one element of it. It’s not a permanent job is it, it sounds like employing someone for three months to do a project/task. Every Senedd Member has an allowance to use, what is everyone else using it for? We know some are using it to employ their spouses as a ‘researcher’ or whatever, who don’t even turn up let alone do anything.
You may be correct. That’s not an aspect of a back bench member’s responsibility of which I was previously aware.
She has history of this. Employing a gardener with taxpayers’ money.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/cardiff-am-criticised-employing-gardening-11763516
I don’t know why… but just from some of the article’s quotes of the job advert, it’s very much well worth the money… actually the candidate might be getting ripped off. It looks like there’s more to it than just “what do people eat”. This research would cover a review of historical food trends and comparing it with the modern equivalent, drawing on research to inform what has changed and why. From what I would surmise, such research would only be requested when they’re planning something pretty big. Possibly a reform of land management, food distribution and balance of nutrition.… Read more »
Rathbone determined to keep her legacy with no thought on vote losing measures
Having championed implementation of a Workplace Parking Levy in Cardiff city centre She reiterated it before the recent Trowbridge by- election in Cardiff where many residents on low salaries commute into the city centre by car.
This is typical of a lot of modern-day research where studies are conducted into a subject where the answers are already known. This happens now even in universities. It sounds good but it is in fact akin to stamp collecting.