Lee Waters MS

  When I was asked to set a reading list for students studying for a Masters Degree in Welsh Politics at Cardiff University it became obvious that very little has been written about how decisions get made and how the institutions of government work. Six months after handing in my Ministerial pass for WG HQ in Cathays Park and the Fifth Floor of Ty Hywel in Cardiff Bay I sat down with a dozen people I'd worked with in Welsh Government, but who were now longer bound by the codes of secrecy, and had long-form conversations to try and explore some of the inner workings to provide some material for students to understand. The full set of transcripts of these 'Cathays Conversations' have been published by Cardiff University.  With the help of an iPhone and a simple audio editing software package I set about turning this raw material into a radio documentary series which thanks to the wonders of podcasting I would easily share with students and those with a general interest in how...

The transcript of Episode 8 of 'Y Pumed Llawr - The Fifth Floor Civil servants can’t answer back. They can’t respond to criticism. So it’s not fair to criticse them. But once a year, the top civil servant in Wales, does get the microphone. The Senedd’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee holds an annual public hearing with the Welsh Government’s Permanent Secretary so that they can be scruitised on the annual accounts. And as we discussed in the second episode the accountability of the civil service in Wales is a fuzzy concept.  The Permanent Secretary is both the CEO of the Welsh Government and the principal policy adviser to the First Minister. As part of the UK senior Civil Service Sir Andrew Goodall is answerable to the Head of the UK Civil Service, the Cabinet Secretary, for “the leadership of the departments”. But is answerable to the First Minister for the delivery of the Welsh Government’s priorities. And in his role as the Principal Accounting Officer the P...

The transcript of Episode 7 of 'Y Pumed Llawr - The Fifth Floor They say that “Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made”. This messy process is one of headaches Ministers face on the Fifth Floor of Ty Hywel My name is Lee Waters and for five years I was a member of the Welsh Government. And for this series I’ve spoken with fellow former Ministers, advisers, and civil servants to try and explain the pressures faced by those working on the Fifth Floor in getting things done. In previous episodes I’ve focused on the themes former colleagues raised the when I asked them ‘what frustrated you most?’ The range of responsibilities, the pace of the civil service in delivering change, the relationship with local government, the weakness of scrutiny, the management of political pressures. These were all on the list. But the one consistent answer, the headache common to all, was making legislation. [Tom Woodward] I mean, the bills take such a long time, they generally st...