Only 16 Welsh Government workers in a building erected for 450

Martin Shipton

On a random day earlier this month, just 16 people were working in a Welsh Government office built to accommodate 450 civil servants as part of a strategy aimed at creating more public sector jobs outside Cardiff.

The figure was revealed in a ministerial response to a question from Tory MS Laura Anne Jones, who had been tipped off that the occupancy rate of the building in Merthyr Tydfil was “shockingly low”.

Plenary

Ms Jones raised the issue with Leader of the House Jane Hutt during a Senedd plenary session, stating: “Earlier this month, I tabled a written question to ask how many people were working in the Welsh Government building in Merthyr Tydfil on the random date of Friday, September 13 The answer was 16.

“The Welsh Government building in Merthyr Tydfil can apparently accommodate up to 450 people. I think it’s fair to assume that some of those 16 workers would have been part of the building security and maintenance crew. Could the Welsh Government therefore provide a statement on whether or not the cost of heating and cleaning Welsh Government buildings that seem to be largely empty is offering value for money for the taxpayer?”

Ms Hutt responded: “Well, we have got a big change, haven’t we, as a result of the pandemic, and different ways of working? Hybrid working and flexible working have brought great benefits to our workforce, not just, indeed, in terms of the Welsh Government workforce, but our workforce here in the Senedd, our workforce and Members’ working arrangements, but also across all sectors, public, private and third sector.

“Certainly, this is an issue for the Welsh Government and our Permanent Secretary to look at in terms of estate. It is good that in Cathays, for example, [the Welsh Government’s headquarters building in Cardiff] we now have other users of the building, and that is also the case in terms of our other government buildings in Wales, looking at the future, responding to these changes in working practice.

“I was a Senedd Member, and in government, when we made these decisions to devolve out of Cathays, that we weren’t just going to be a civil service in Cardiff and that we were going to have these offices, particularly in the Valleys communities, Heads of the Valleys, and Aberystwyth and Llandudno. So, we need to look very carefully at how we manage this in terms of the future opportunities for our workforce and for the local labour market and economies as well.”

Economic benefits

When the Merthyr Tydfil building was opened by then First Minister Rhodri Morgan in 2006, it was said to be “part of a drive to spread the economic benefits of working for the [then] Assembly across Wales”.

The three-storey building at Rhydycar was the first of three regional offices to be opened under the scheme.

Mr Morgan said the new building for 450 staff would provide a “significant boost” in public sector jobs.

“This Assembly office will help to shape a more vibrant Merthyr and Heads of the Valleys,” he said.

“It offers high quality jobs, economic benefits and much broader career paths for staff.”

He added that it would be a “magnet” for inward investment and would improve the attractiveness of the area.

At the time Mr Morgan opened it, staff had been working in the building – said to meet the highest environmental standards – for three weeks.

The civil servants working there were said to deal with issues including social justice, housing and European funding.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said at the time: “The aim of the move is to make the workings of government and civil service jobs more available to people outside Cardiff.

“So far around 60 people have been recruited locally. The rest moved with their jobs from the capital.

“Building work on other Assembly regional offices in Llandudno Junction and Aberystwyth is expected to start soon.

“The Assembly Government hopes to have 60% of its staff working outside of Cardiff by 2008.”

Irony

A Senedd insider told Nation.Cymru: “There’s some irony in the fact that the building in Merthyr was designated as the headquarters of the Welsh European Funding Office, which funded billions of pounds of EU aid for Wales from the EU. It shut down after Brexit when the EU funding dried up, of course.

“An urban myth also grew up around the building, with some suggesting that the only Merthyr people employed at the building worked as cleaners, while the bulk of the workforce travelled up the A470 from their homes in Cardiff.

“The Welsh Government has a real problem now. It’s difficult to envisage anyone wanting to take over a 450-person office block in Merthyr Tydfil in the foreseeable future.”