About Welsh Government

The Welsh Government has an annual budget of around £18 billion and is responsible for a range of areas including health, education and skills, the economy and transport, and agriculture and the environment.

The First Minister of Wales and his Cabinet form the Welsh Government and make decisions in devolved areas of responsibility. Welsh Ministers are accountable to the Senedd Cymru/ Welsh Parliament, Wales’ legislative body comprising 60 elected Members.

Welsh Ministers are supported by around 5,000 civil servants, approximately half of whom are located in Cardiff, with the remainder based in Welsh Government offices across Wales. The Welsh Government also has small offices in London, Brussels and an overseas network for trade and investment work. The Permanent Secretary leads the Welsh Government Civil Service and is accountable to the First Minister and Welsh Ministers.

Equality, diversity and inclusion are core values of the Welsh Government. We aim to be an exemplar employer and our work is underpinned by a Board Equality and Diversity Champion, vibrant diversity networks supported by senior champions and setting diversity targets to improve the numbers of under-represented groups (for example, BAME and disabled staff at all levels and women at senior levels). We are committed to organisational use of the social model of disability and to making both recruitment adjustments and workplace adjustments to ensure equality for disabled staff. We have recently published our strategy on Inclusion and Diversity in Public Appointments as we are intent on increasing the diversity of the regulated and other Boards in Wales and our process of developing our Equality Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan 2020-2025 setting our visions for our own employment.

The Welsh Government was elected in May 2021 and our priorities are set out in our Programme for Government, Taking Wales Forward, and our national Strategy – Prosperity for All. Our ambition is to build a Wales which is a self-confident, prosperous, healthy nation and a society which is fair to all. Some 25% of the £1bn spent by the Welsh Government comes from Welsh taxes.

The UK’s exit from the EU at the end of January 2020 and the subsequent international negotiations – both on the future UK / EU relationship and on UK trade deals with other countries – have significant implications for Wales and for the work of the Welsh Government. Our constitutional relationship with the UK Government and the other Devolved Governments continues to develop. In addition, along with other public bodies in Wales, the Welsh Government is subject to the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act and to the Welsh Language Standards, both of which require the Civil Service to work in new and different ways to improve policy development and the services delivered to the people of Wales.

The Welsh Government is a bilingual organisation; legislation is produced in both Welsh and English, and both languages have equal legal status. Although Welsh language skills are not essential for these posts, and you do not need to be able to speak Welsh in order to work within the Welsh Government, they would be a real asset. Applicants must show an appreciation of bilingualism and share our commitment to promoting the Welsh language to achieve a million Welsh speakers by 2050. We encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills in the workplace.