The Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader, Kirsty Williams has called on the Government to publish details of all Ministerial expenses in the same way as those of AMs are made available on-line.
She pointed out that many Ministers are able to shift travel and subsistence costs to ministerial budgets so as to appear whiter than white when it comes to comparisons with other Assembly Members. Because these are not published then there is a fog over an important aspect of public expenditure.
Ms. Williams pointed out that mileage for Ministerial cars increased from 138,291 miles in 2007-08 to 260,989 in the following year. At 45p a mile that would add up to a £117,445 cost to the taxpayer.
Despite this the Assembly Government Spokeperson was adamant that a veil would continue to be drawn over exact details of Minister’s expenses. She said that the Welsh Government intends to adopt the same publication scheme as Westminster and only publish an annual list of overseas travel by Ministers costing in excess of £500 and a list of all Ministerial gifts received over the value of £140 for 2009-10.
It is unlikely that anybody will be satisfied with that and it is more than possible that some will pursue the full details as far as the Information Commissioner. After all, why should the Government itself get away with less than full transparency?
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