Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price has raised concerns after it emerged that the chief executive of the Welsh Government’s investment bank has accepted a £40k external job on top of his normal duties.
Giles Thorley is paid £193,333 as chief executive of the Development Bank of Wales (DBW).
In response to a series of questions from BusnessLive, a spokeswoman for DBW said: “In 2018 [Mr Thorley] was approached by the founder of Zip World Ltd, an ambitious north Wales business, to support its growth plans.
The company was briefly a customer of [DBW’s predecessor body] Finance Wales in 2016 when it secured a micro-loan which was repaid six months later.
“The appointment was approved by the board of DBW who have responsibility for the performance of the organisation and the CEO. As DBW continues to deliver across its targets, the board is satisfied that Mr Thorley is more than able to discharge his duties effectively while simultaneously benefitting from the important SME perspective that this assignment brings.”
The spokeswoman added: “Mr Thorley sought and obtained approval from the board of DBW before talking up the role. Zip World founder and president Sean Taylor sought agreement from Welsh Government.
“Mr Thorley will attend eight meetings in person and two meetings by phone per annum [as chairman of Zip World]. The remuneration for the role is £40k.”
But Mr Price said: “The role of CEO at DBW is one of the most important roles in the entire Welsh public sector. It is a full-time position with major responsibility and the salary, no doubt, that comes with that.
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“As such, it is completely inexplicable that the Welsh Government saw fit to agree to the CEO taking a highly paid non-executive directorship outside the bank.
“Quite apart from the obvious concern that outside paid directorships will detract from a singular focus on the work of the Bank, there are obvious worries over conflicts of interest, whether real or perceived, between private gain and public purpose.
“It would appear from this decision that the Welsh Government doesn’t attach as much strategic significance to the CEO’s position as the public might expect. That is very troubling.”
A spokeswoman for the Welsh Government said: “In accepting external roles the Welsh Government is satisfied that Mr Thorley is experienced and fully understands his legal obligations in relation to conflicts of interest with regard to the Companies Act 2006.
“Given that the DBW has achieved its five year annual investment target of £80m in just 18 months since launch, the Welsh Government has no concerns that Mr Thorley is distracted in carrying out his duties.”