Welsh Conservatives today accused the Assembly Government of “talking to itself on a monumental scale” after revealing details of the more than 260 groups set up to advise ministers.
Ninety so-called task and finish groups are currently operating across a wide range of areas with a view of determining the policy direction of the Labour-Plaid administration.
Dozens more have been set up since 1999, with many still operating in contradiction of Assembly Government guidelines, information obtained by the Welsh Conservatives has revealed.
The party has learned that since 1999 some 267 task and finish groups have been established, including 105 in health and social services alone.
Of the overall number, 69 are still in existence beyond the maximum two year remit recommended in guidelines.
Shadow Environment Minister Darren Millar AM, who obtained the information, described the number of task and finish groups as “excessive”.
The Clwyd West AM said the Assembly Government had created a “talking shop culture” which gave the illusion that ministers were “actually doing something”.
Mr Millar called for a review of task and finish groups to establish their effectiveness in terms of influencing government policy.
He also challenged ministers to reveal what costs, if any, had been incurred in establishing so many groups over the last nine years.
Darren Millar AM said:
“While I accept the Assembly Government needs to rely on expert advice from time to time, the scale of these task and finish groups is simply staggering.
“Ministers have created a talking shop culture to give the illusion of activity when in fact they are doing very little other than listening to the advice of focus groups.
“It is proof, not that any is needed, that we are led by a government with so few ideas it has to get them from other people.
“We need a thorough review of all these groups to assess what benefits they have brought to the government of Wales.
“While I have no doubt some of the advice gained will have been useful I remain to be convinced about the level of these grandiose think tanks.”
ASSEMBLY GOVERNMENT BREACHES OWN GUIDELINES
Information obtained by Shadow Environment Minister Darren Millar shows how ministers are breaching their own guidelines on the lifespan of task and finish groups.
Some 69 groups are still ongoing beyond the two year remit laid down by the Assembly Government.
A task and finish group is an ad hoc advisory group, made up of no more than two-thirds civil/public servants which has been set up to perform a particular task, report and then disband.
The work of a task and finish group is short-term. In other words there must be a real intention to wind it up after 12 months (or certainly no more than two years.) Their remit is usually of a very specific and focused nature.