How is Wales run?

 

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 politics and government in Wales works. All episodes are available on the main podcast platform is you search for 'Y Pumed Llawr - The Fifth Floor'

For a themes I asked the people I used to work with what they think are the main pressures we’ve all faced in trying to get things done in Government. We settled on six themes and I focused an episode on each one: 

The sheer breadth of Ministerial responsibilities and ; the bandwidth of the civil service to get things done quickly; the relationship with local government - the real delivery arm of Welsh Government; the quality of scrutiny Ministers face, or indeed the absence of it; relationships within our own parties, and with other parties, which shape the choices Ministers make; and the dysfunctional sausage machine that is the government’s legislative programme.

This is the list that vexed us all - And posed major challenges to our ambitions for office.

I am extremely grateful to everyone who sat down with me and spoke with such candor about their experiences.

But of course the perspectives are of those of a dozen people. These are by definition partial and limited to their own experiences and views. What I hope is that this will encourage others to offer more perspectives, and to challenge or add to these accounts to add to the body of work for future students to draw on. 

If you have views I'd be really delighted if you'd share them as comments on each of the episode transcripts. I am considering developing the series further and would really value your feedback. If you'd rather give it privately please email me and I will treat the information in confidence: Amanwy@gmail.com

Here are the transcripts of each of the themed episodes of 'The Fifth Floor - Y Pumed Llawr'

  1. Being a Minister
  2. Constraints
  3. Dysfunction
  4. Scrutiny
  5. Friction
  6. Politics
  7. Sausages
  8. Bonus - Yes Minister

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