WELSH Secretary Jo Stevens is facing calls to apologise amid allegations that she has “politicised” civil servants in a row over the Wales Office’s use of social media.
Her Conservative counterpart, Shadow Welsh Secretary Mims Davies MP, has demanded an apology after a senior UK Government official acknowledged that a contentious social media post “could have been better phrased.” Despite this, the Wales Office maintains that it follows official UK Government guidelines on the use of social media.
The Controversial Post
The controversy centres around a post made on 20 October by the Wales Office, which stated: “Today’s Budget has delivered for Wales for the first time in a generation.”
As a UK Government department, the Wales Office is bound by rules requiring neutrality in all official communications. While government departments are politically directed, civil service communications, including social media activity, must remain impartial—unlike accounts belonging to individual politicians or political parties.
Formal Complaint and Response
In November, Mims Davies raised concerns with the Cabinet Secretary, describing the post as a breach of the Civil Service Code. In her letter, she stated: “This blatant political statement is yet another clear breach of the Civil Service Code, which states: ‘You must not: act in a way that is determined by party-political considerations or use official resources for party-political purposes.'”
She further criticised the use of taxpayer-funded resources for partisan messaging and called for an investigation into Jo Stevens and her officials.
“I am sure you will agree we simply cannot have taxpayer-funded resources being misappropriated on these types of messages and your civil servants being actively political inside departments, and perhaps under pressure to message this way.
“Therefore, can you provide me with the latest development towards launching an investigation into the Secretary of State and her officials to uncover the full details of these serious code breaches?”
Government Response
Simon Baugh, the UK Government’s Chief Executive of Communications, responded by reaffirming the guidelines for civil service-managed social media accounts.
“The Government Communication Service has published clear guidelines and mandatory training on the use of social media by civil servants, including on official accounts. The guidance sets out that posts on official accounts should not contain party political material within the body of the message or contained within links.
“Official accounts must not be used for the further dissemination of messages from party political or otherwise partisan accounts. They must also be sensitive to tone and guard against perceived attacks on particular interests, organisations or individuals.
“My team provides comprehensive and mandatory training for Government communications professionals to ensure that these rules are understood. We also regularly reinforce the obligations through bespoke sessions with Directors of Communication and their teams.
“In this particular case, while the text of the post echoed a short section of an HM Treasury press release, I acknowledge that it could have been better phrased, and I have discussed the matter with the Wales Office.”
Calls for an Apology
Following this response, Mims Davies reiterated her concerns, stating: “I welcome the Director General of UK Government Communication’s response to my letter highlighting, what I believed to be, an overtly political post used with civil service resources on the Wales Office departmental social media account following the Labour Budget. He has agreed in his reply it ‘could have been better phrased’ and has ‘spoken’ with the Wales Office.
“We now need the Secretary of State for Wales to step up and apologise for this conduct in politicising our impartial civil servants and then focus her energy on actually delivering something for the people of Wales.”
Wales Office Statement
A spokesperson for the Wales Office defended the department’s position, stating: “The Wales Office follows guidance set out by the Government Communication Service, and mandatory training is undertaken on the use of social media on official government channels.
“The post in question highlighted how the UK Government is investing in Wales. This matter has been discussed with the Wales Office Director to ensure continued compliance with guidelines.”
Despite this, pressure continues to mount on Jo Stevens to acknowledge concerns over civil service neutrality and issue an apology.
Welsh Secretary urged to apologise over social media dispute
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