On the day that the Welsh Government is on strike, it was revealed that Labour Ministers and staff spend more time on Facebook than almost any other website.
Labour Ministers and civil servants also spend more time on travel review website TripAdvisor and online retailer Amazon than on the Welsh Government’s own website.
Amongst the other most visited websites are Ebay, Rightmove, Next, Argos and LinkedIn.
In a written answer to a Welsh Conservative AM, the First Minister Carwyn Jones published the top 25 most visited websites by the Welsh Government from 4 April to 3 July 2014.
In April 2014, Carwyn Jones tweeted that he found the website ‘dangerously addictive’. So it seems do most of his colleagues, as it is the seventh most visited website.
Antoinette Sandbach, Assembly Member for North Wales, who uncovered the information, said: “These revelations give an astonishing insight into life in the Labour-run Welsh Government, which is rife, apparently, with people chatting on Facebook.
“Labour Ministers and their staff spend more time shopping on Amazon and perusing holiday reviews on TripAdvisor than on the Welsh Government’s own website.
“While the Welsh Government should use all possible forms of media, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, to communicate with the Welsh public, this data suggests these sites are also being used recreationally.
“Labour’s First Minister has admitted that he’s addicted to Twitter and now it seems so are many of his colleagues.
“While everyone is entitled to a lunchbreak, there are questions as to why Ebay, Argos, Next and Rightmove feature so prominently in the list of most visited websites by Welsh Government staff.
“With all the problems currently facing the country after 15 years of successive Labour governments and a doubling in the number of Welsh Government civil servants, taxpayers will be surprised that Ministers and their staff seem to have so much free time.
“Hardworking people will expect well paid Labour Ministers and their staff to get on with their jobs.”
