Number and cost of Special Advisers hit new record
The Government has today released a new list of Special Advisers, showing that the number and the pay bill have both reached a record high.
• There are now 97 special advisers – more than ever before
• The pay bill for the period 2012-13 was £7.2 million
Phil Wilson, Labour MP for Sedgefield, said:
“David Cameron’s promise to put a limit on Special Advisers is in tatters, with both the number and the cost reaching a record high. While he tells the rest of the country to accept cuts, he’s happy to spend more and more on his own spin doctors. It’s more evidence of how out of touch he is that he thinks the rules don’t apply to him.
“As for Nick Clegg’s pledge to make sure Special Advisers are not paid for by the taxpayer - well, we already knew his promises aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.”
Ends
Editor’s Notes:
Number and cost of Special Advisers hit new record
• The Government has released a new list of special advisers, showing that the number and the pay bill have both reached a record high.
• There are now 97 special advisers – more than ever before. The Government’s first list of special advisers, showing those in post as at 10 June 2010, contained 63 names, as well as five posts indicated as vacancies. The previous list, published in October 2012, contained 85 special advisers.
• The pay bill for the period 2012-13 was £7.2 million – compared to an estimated £6.8 million 2012-13 pay bill when the list was last published in October 2012, and a £6.2 million pay bill for 2011-12.
• The new list of special advisers is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/253081/SPAD_list_Live_UPDATE.pdf
• The previous estimated £6.8 million pay bill for 2012-13 is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/83712/Special-Advisers-in-Post-19-October.pdf
• Details of the 2011-12 pay bill are here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/62365/WMS-07-12.pdf
David Cameron’s broken pledges on special advisers
• In opposition, David Cameron repeatedly pledged to limit the number of special advisers.
“The list of Mr Cameron’s proposals involve:
• Reversing the trend towards Tony Blair’s Presidential-style “Department of the Prime Minister”.
• Creating an independent mechanism to investigate breaches of the Ministerial Code.
• Introducing tighter caps on the number of paid and unpaid ministers and a statutory limit on the number of special advisers.
• Ending the practice of MPs setting their own salaries.
• Considering a reduction in the size of the House of Commons.
• Passing a Civil Service Act to re-establish and entrench the independence of the Civil Service.”
Conservative Party press release, 29 September 2006
“We will put a statutory cap on the number of special advisers, as part of a wider Civil Service Act to strengthen the independence of the Civil Service.”
David Cameron, Speech to Welsh Conservative Party Conference, 1 March 2008
“So this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to put a limit on the number of special advisors and protect the independence of the civil service.”
David Cameron, 8 February 2010
• The Conservative Manifesto in 2010 included a pledge to limit the number of special advisers. This pledge was repeated in the Coalition Agreement.
“We will put a limit on the number of special advisers and protect the impartiality of the civil service.”
Conservative Manifesto 2010, p. 67
“We will put a limit on the number of Special Advisers.”
Coalition Agreement, p. 27
Nick Clegg’s broken pledge on special advisers
• The Liberal Democrats also used to argue that special advisers should not be paid by the taxpayer, but should be funded by political parties.
“The government currently employs 74 Special Advisers in the central departments, an increase of more than 90% since 1995, at a cost to the taxpayer of £5.9m each year. These are political jobs, and should, therefore, be funded by political parties. Special Advisors will not be paid for by the taxpayer”
Liberal Democrat policy paper, “A better politics for less”, September 2009
• But now, special advisers assigned to Liberal Democrat ministers are paid out of public funds. The latest list of special advisers shows that 26 special advisers have been appointed by Liberal Democrat ministers, including 19 assigned directly to Nick Clegg.