Hopes for government staff to move into hub

THE new-look Welsh Government said no decisions have been taken about its office buildings following advanced talks between its Labour predecessors and Swansea Council about the potential relocation of staff to a new hub in the city.

- RICHARD YOULE

How the Swansea Council-led public sector hub in the city centre could look.

(SWANSEA COUNCIL)

Council chiefs in Swansea want the Welsh Government to occupy part of the new public sector hub and council leader Rob Stewart said letters of intent had been signed between the two parties before the Senedd election.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands the proposed deal would have involved the Welsh Government relocating staff to the hub and the council taking on the Welsh Government’s office near the M4 junction at Penllergaer.

The proposed arrangement rang alarm bells for the leader of the opposition, Cllr Chris Holley, because he felt the Welsh Government struggled to make full use of the Penllergaer office, which is just off the A48. “If it didn’t work for the Welsh Government how is it going to work for Swansea Council?” he said.

A spokesman for the new Plaid Cymru administration in Cardiff Bay, when asked about the proposed deal, didn’t rule it out but said: “No decisions have been taken on future accommodation arrangements including the use of any specific sites or the amount of space that might be occupied. Any decision on the Welsh Government estate will be for ministers.”