James Evans MS has criticised the explosion in the size and cost of employing public sector employees, particularly so in the civil service, warning that taxpayers are footing the bill for a growing bureaucracy that delivers less while costing more.
Recent figures reported by The Spectator reveal that public sector employment in the UK has reached 6.14 million, up 53,000 in just one year, with central government employment hitting a record high of four million. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that the number of civil servants earning between £150,000 and £200,000 has increased by 44% in a year, with some now paid more than the Prime Minister! This follows the reports last year in 2024 that Powys County Council employees earning more than £70,000 has doubled in the previous two years.
James says this rise in public sector employment comes at the same time as shocking inefficiencies within the Welsh Government. In July, James highlighted how attendance at a Welsh Government Office in Llandrindod Wells office is reportedly just 12%, despite a £1 million refurbishment bill and vast unused space. He warned that while the public sector workforce continues to grow, the public is seeing little in the way of improvement in public services or productivity.
James Evans MS said:
“We’re seeing more civil servants than ever before, but our services aren’t improving, and productivity has flatlined. It’s completely unsustainable to keep expanding bureaucracy while frontline services like the NHS and local councils are under strain!
“People in Brecon & Radnorshire expect their taxes to fund more frontline staff – more doctors, dentists,nurses, and teachers - not endless layers of management and six-figure salaries in Government departments. Welsh Labour should be focussed on cutting waste, not rewarding failure.
“We’ve already seen empty government offices in Powys costing taxpayers a fortune, along with the double the number of Powys employees earning over £70,000 a year, and now we learn the wider civil service is ballooning while output falls. We need to cut bureaucracy, cut layers of top management and make sure these high paid employees are performing and bringing about results. The public deserves so much better value for their money than they’re currently getting.”
