Friday, April 28, 2017
Questions that need answering on Circuit of Wales project
Yesterday's Auditor General Report on the Circuit of Wales project in Ebbw Vale underlined what a quagmire the Welsh Government has got itself caught in.
As the Western Mail reports, there are some serious questions that need answering about the use of public money in this project and whether we are getting value for the investment the Welsh Government has undertaken.
The report questions why the Welsh Government allowed money to be used for projects that weren’t in line with the aims of the grant:
In particular it questioned why:
Economy Secretary Ken Skates is currently deciding whether to provide a further loan guarantee of £210m from public funds, without which the project will not proceed.
Before any more money is poured into this project there needs to be full answers to these questions and Ministers must give us some confidence that this the circuit is deliverable and viable. At present there are real questions over whether it will ever be a going-concern.
As the Western Mail reports, there are some serious questions that need answering about the use of public money in this project and whether we are getting value for the investment the Welsh Government has undertaken.
The report questions why the Welsh Government allowed money to be used for projects that weren’t in line with the aims of the grant:
In particular it questioned why:
- £300,000 of public funds had been used to acquire a motorbike firm in Buckinghamshire that later went bust;
- Payments of almost £1m were allowed to another firm run by the Circuit of Wales’ director Michael Carrick “without enough evidence [they] represented value for money”;
- The Welsh Government did not have any evidence of the firm buying in services “in a competitive and sustainable way” as required in the £2m grant offer letter;
- Further, the Auditor General said “nearly half of the total value of payments to suppliers” was conducted “with or through related parties” and invoices were approved “without evidence of value for money”.
Economy Secretary Ken Skates is currently deciding whether to provide a further loan guarantee of £210m from public funds, without which the project will not proceed.
Before any more money is poured into this project there needs to be full answers to these questions and Ministers must give us some confidence that this the circuit is deliverable and viable. At present there are real questions over whether it will ever be a going-concern.
