Welsh authorities ought to promote Cathays Park advanced, insider says

The Welsh authorities ought to promote its Cardiff headquarters, in accordance with a former senior civil servant.

Des Clifford, former head of the primary minister’s workplace in Cathays Park, mentioned a smaller workplace needs to be arrange in Cardiff Bay close to the Senedd as an alternative.

His feedback come after new figures present that on common simply 19% of employees primarily based in Cathays Park labored within the workplace every day in March.

First Minister Eluned Morgan has beforehand mentioned the federal government will not have the ability to “justify” preserving its workplaces open if employees proceed to remain away.

Earlier than Covid struck, round 2,500 folks labored at Cathays Park on daily basis.

Nevertheless, for the reason that pandemic most have continued to make money working from home.

The latest attendance figures, for March, present that on common the variety of folks attending the Cathays Park workplace every day was 576 (19%).

The very best day by day attendance was 799 (26%).

Chatting with BBC-produced Newyddion S4C, Des Clifford mentioned the times of employees working within the workplace 5 days per week had been over and the time had come to promote Cathays Park.

“It is an unsightly and unfriendly constructing,” he mentioned.

“I’d shut it down and maybe promote it to the college or anyone else and arrange a brand new workplace within the Bay in order that the federal government and the Senedd are facet by facet.”

This would offer “a higher alternative for mixing between civil servants and authorities and the Senedd, which could, in sure methods, create a sure form of coherence,” he added.

The Cathays Park advanced consists of two buildings joined by a bridge.

The older constructing, relationship from the Nineteen Thirties and Grade II listed, initially housed the UK authorities’s Welsh Board of Well being.

After the place of secretary of state for Wales was created within the Nineteen Sixties, it turned residence to the Welsh Workplace.

The newer constructing, accomplished in 1979, offered further workplace house for a Welsh Workplace that had acquired an rising vary of tasks.

The 2-building advanced turned the house of Wales’ fledgling devolved authorities 20 years later, in 1999.

The Welsh authorities has a complete of 20 websites throughout Wales together with 15 so-called “core workplaces”.

The prices of operating these workplaces in 2023-24 was £24.5m.

Throughout the Welsh authorities’s property in March the typical day by day attendance was 16%.

Requested what ought to occur to these workplaces, Mr Clifford mentioned there have been “all types of awkward questions that come up when you’ve got an workplace in Llandudno Junction and you’ve got one other one in Caernarfon”.

“Are the 2 justifiable within the circumstances that we’re describing while you’ve obtained two buildings 30 miles (48km) aside?

“The identical set of questions come up between Penllergaer in Swansea and Carmarthen, which I believe once more, is about 30 miles distance between the 2.”

The Welsh authorities expects its employees to spend 40% of the week – the equal of two days – within the workplace.

Final week First Minister Eluned Morgan informed the Senedd: “Clearly, there’ll come some extent the place you must say ‘should you do not flip up, we can not justify preserving this explicit workplace open’.”

A evaluate of the federal government’s Powys workplaces – in Llandrindod Wells and Newtown – is already underway.