9. What guidance has the Welsh Government issued regarding public sector pay in Wales? OAQ54614

I thank the Member for that. We provide guidance on public sector pay in Wales through various mechanisms, such as remit letters to Welsh Government sponsored bodies and pay review bodies, and are about to consult on a set of common principles to underpin our approach to public sector pay across Wales. 

Reference has already been made in this Chamber, First Minister, to the outrage that is taking place across north Wales as a result of this £2,000 per day that is being paid to the recovery director at the Betsi Cadwaladr health board. You will know that the Public Accounts Committee has previously reported on senior management pay in the public sector and made clear recommendations about guidance for the appointment of consultants, and indeed senior managers, in the public sector to ensure that there's transparency and accountability.

One thing that I think is absolutely astonishing is that health board members, independent members of this health board, do not appear to have had any role or knowledge about this particular appointment of this particular individual, and indeed other individuals who are also being paid what appear to be eye-watering amounts. Can you tell us whether new guidance will be issued as a result of this situation in north Wales, whether the Welsh Government will intervene to make sure that money is being spent appropriately, and whether the Welsh Government has confidence in the health board's own executive team given that there seems to be so much external capacity that is required in order to support this particular health board? We've got people at that health board, the chief executive, who's paid in excess of £200,000. If he's not competent to do the job, why on earth is he still there?

Well, Llywydd, the external assistance that the board has acquired is, as I've said many times this afternoon, the result of advice provided to the Welsh Government by the Public Accounts Committee, which said that such assistance was urgently needed, and has now been afforded. I don't follow the point that the Member made about, somehow, this not being known. I've got in front of me a freedom of information request, therefore entirely in the public domain. It sets out the job titles, it sets out their appointment dates, it sets out the length of contracts, it tells you the supplier in the market that his party has created, where people have to be sourced from, and it tells you how long the people are going to be in work for. The idea that, somehow, this was not known to people just simply doesn't stand up to examination. And I am sure that all these appointments were done in line with the guidance that the Welsh Government has already provided, informed by the advice that we get from Assembly committees. 

Thank you, First Minister.