Secret recording from inside a Reform UK meeting
There is some major friction within the party in Wales
Hello!
In todays newsletter we have:
The secret recording from inside a Welsh Reform UK meeting which suggests that there are deep divides within the party. I also break down the, err, characters being appointed to major roles within Wales.
The accounts for a Welsh Government owned organisation were left in a toilet. I have them and it shows a £23m loss…
The forgotten Welsh parts of a UK Covid inquiry that no one is talking about.
An awful answer by a Welsh Government minister when challenged about issues reported in this newsletter.
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The Covid Inquiry scandal that is being missed
I have often written about the Welsh Government’s aversion to scrutiny. The greatest embodiment of this was the scandalous decision not to hold a Welsh specific inquiry into Covid. Welsh Labour based their entire 2021 election campaign around how well they handled the pandemic but then refused to hold an inquiry into their response.
There were concerns at the time that a UK Covid inquiry would fail to give the Welsh response the attention it merited. Now several years into the inquiry and I think it is fair to say these fears have proved true.
Let’s take a look at how much attention Wales is receiving:
Module 1 (Resilience and preparedness) - Took five weeks of which only eight hours looked at Wales.
Module 2 (Decision-making and political governance) - 10 weeks, 12 days in Wales.
Module 3 (Impact healthcare systems) - 10 weeks, just eight Welsh witnesses.
Module 4 (Vaccines and therapeutics) - Three weeks, one Welsh witness.
Module 5 (Procurement) - Four weeks, four Welsh witnesses
Module 6 (Care Sector) - Five weeks, eight Welsh witnesses
Module 7 (Test, Trace and Isolate) - Three weeks, four Welsh witnesses
This is not simply about holding decision makers to account. It is about learning lessons. When there is another pandemic the chances are the Welsh Government will again be responsible. They made specific mistakes and it’s vital they learn specific lessons.
Let me give you an example of some of the stuff that was submitted to the enquiry but not examined within its sessions.
The documents supplied to the inquiry show that Wales had the lowest stockpiles of respiratory PPE in the UK before the pandemic. Loads of it was out of date and the Welsh Government was warned about this.
In February 2020 testing of the stockpiles took place and 50% of it failed because it wasn’t designed to fit a female's face. All the more shocking when you consider that 70% of the staff who would be using the stock were female! This is the stuff that gets missed when Wales is a footnote in a wider inquiry.
Last week I went to a briefing held by Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group. These people are incredible and have done more than anyone to hold the Welsh Gov’s feet to the fire over their pandemic response.
They are now campaigning for there to be a targeted Welsh Covid inquiry after the next Senedd election which will deep dive into some specific Welsh issues. They argue that, given the UK inquiry has gathered huge amounts of data and information, that a Welsh inquiry would be able to be carried while avoiding huge public expense. Personally, I think they have a very strong case.
Will it happen? No party has committed to this at this point but I would be stunned if a Plaid Cymru led Welsh Government didn’t order such an inquiry. There were several Plaid MSs at the briefing (as well as Tories and Lib Dems) which was also sponsored by the Plaid MS Mabon ap Gwynfor.
Vaughan Gething’s word soup
Before we move on, I just want to draw your attention to Vaughan Gething’s appearance at the inquiry last week. As anyone who is familiar with the former First and health minister can attest, he almost never gives a straight answer, preferring to duck and weave.
The most egregious example of this came when he was shown evidence that the Welsh Government failed to publish guidance to care homes that they should test everyone entering for two weeks.
He was asked:
“As you say, the decision was taken on 15 April and the subsequent guidance was not published until 29 April. Do you accept, along with the Welsh Government, that that was a delay that simply shouldn’t have happened?”
Most people would simply answer “yes”.
Mr Gething however treated the inquiry to:
“Yes, it’s part of the concession that I don’t attempt to walk away from.”
The terrible Welsh Government response
A few weeks back we looked at how religious schools in Wales were allowed to prioritise children of their faith over children who had been in care when it came to selection. We did this in great detail so I am not going to spend too long on this, but I wanted to share with you the Welsh Government's response when they were challenged about this issue in the Senedd.
The minister for education Lynne Neagle was asked about this by Labour MS Jenny Rathbone who said:
“This question was prompted by an article I read by Will Hayward last week, indicating that some faith schools were not respecting that important commitment to social justice….
“I want to dig a bit deeper into how the Government, through Estyn, and the 22 local authorities, actually monitor whether all schools have that same commitment to looked-after children.”
To this Lynne Neagle responded:
“I should say that we're not aware of, or at least we don't have any evidence to support, the claims made in the newsletter by Will Hayward that looked-after children are being treated unfairly. If there are any concerns that anybody knows of, I would be very keen to hear those and I would follow those up…
“This is an area that I'm really passionate about personally. I think we all have corporate parenting responsibilities across the public sector. They are our children, they are our responsibility. So, if any Members are aware, or, indeed, Will Hayward himself, of any specific examples, I would be very happy to follow those up.”
So nothing to worry about right? Lynne Neagle is both “passionate” about this issue and there is apparently no evidence that faith schools are prioritising children of their religion over looked-after kids.
I watched this exchange live and it took me 45 seconds on Google to find the evidence that Lynne Neagle said wasn’t there. I will give you examples from just three local authorities (though there are more).
Below is Cardiff’s St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School’s criteria. The list is in priority order, meaning that first of all, every baptised child in care will be accepted. Then, if there is still space, all the Catholic kids in the local area will be taken. Then any Catholic children who apply but live further away will be taken. Only then are non-Catholic looked-after children accepted.
This means a Catholic child from 30 miles away will be prioritised over a non-Catholic child in care who lives next door to the school. How is this for “evidence”?
It’s not just Cardiff, this happens all over Wales
In Swansea this is St Illtyd's Catholic primary school’s criteria:
Again, kids in care are put lower on the list because they are deemed to be of the “wrong” religion.
This is the criteria for St Mary’s catholic school in Bridgend:
1. Looked After baptised Catholic Children or Previously Looked After baptised Catholic Children (proof of baptism must be submitted with the application form).
2. Baptised Catholic children (proof of baptism must be submitted with the application form).
3. Siblings of baptised Catholic children who will be attending St. Mary’s School at the time of admission.
4. Looked after children or Previously Looked After Children who are baptised in another Christian denomination (proof of baptism must be submitted with the application form).
5. Other Looked After Children or Previously Looked After Children
At this school they even go to the extent of making sure that kids from other branches of Christianity in care get priority over others. Because apparently an Anglican child in care is more deserving of a place than a Muslim child in care. You will be pleased to hear that they do demand evidence so no child can get entry unless they are worthy…
This shows the Welsh Government aversion to scrutiny and addiction to lip service
The fact that the minister for education can stand up and say something that is so demonstrably incorrect and that she “doesn’t have any evidence to support” the idea that children in care are being short changed is disappointing.
The evidence is easily available. The only reason she hasn’t seen it is because she can’t have looked. It took me less than a minute to find these examples.
Added to this were lines about her having “corporate parenting responsibilities” and that “they are our children, they are our responsibility”. It is meaningless if it is not paired with action and we seem time and again the Welsh Government talking a really good game but not following through.
Perhaps I am doing her a disservice. Perhaps her “passion” will lead her to commit the resources of government to spending less time than it takes to boil a kettle to realise the reality of the sector she governs. We shall see.
The accounts left in a toilet…
International Convention Centre Wales (ICC Wales) near Newport opened its doors in 2019. With a 5,000 capacity, the aim was to try and attract some of the big events that are held in Manchester and Birmingham into Wales.
The Welsh Government provided £22.5m to build it and have a 50% shareholding. Perhaps the worst thing that could have happened to the project was the Covid lockdown just six months after it opened. Not the easiest start.
Last week there was the ICC Wales AGM. One person attending clearly wanted to delve into the figures while they popped to the loo but then left the breakdown of the ICC finances in their stall.
The contents were enough to make any executive need the toilet. It said:
In 2024 the ICC made a loss of £23.6m compared to £3.9m loss in 2023.
Of this loss, £20m seems to be coming from a write down of assets.
According to the documents, would equate to just under 50% fall in the value of assets.
The business plan summary also suggests that the ICC will not be making a net profit at any point for the next three years.
There was also a £20m equality injection from "shareholders" of which £10m came from the taxpayer through the Welsh Government.
To be clear, I don’t think it is a bad thing per se that the Welsh Government built the ICC to try and attract events and raise the profile of Wales. Nor is it bad they want to support it.
But as with any public funded venture, questions need to continuously be asked as to whether it represents good value-for-money for the tax payer. Especially when they make bold predictions like forecasting a 50% growth in revenue between 2025 and 2030!
When I approached the Welsh Government a spokesman said:
“We have invested £10m in the ICC Wales over the past 12 months, but because this was for debt reduction it resulted in credit back, making it a net investment of £1.5m.
“ICC Wales had to close because of the Covid pandemic only six months after it opened, and the convention sector has been slow to recover from the pandemic. But as the sector continues its recovery, we are confident ICC Wales has a strong future that will bring economic benefits to the region.
“We invested in ICC Wales to grow business tourism in Wales, and as the market recovers, we are confident that more and bigger events will come to ICC Wales, bringing considerable benefits to the south Wales economy.”
The secret recording inside a Welsh Reform meeting shows the cracks in the party
I have spent the last few weeks speaking to people from Reform UK in Wales. It is clear that this is not a happy ship.
In the space of six weeks, 7 of the 15 branch heads have been removed. Some people within the party have made claims of misogyny because three of these were women meaning that there remains only one female in any position of power within the Welsh party.
I have spoken to some who have expressed concerns that the “right of the party” is attempting to grab the reins of power and is pushing out the “moderate voices” as people jockey to become the Welsh leader ahead of the Senedd election.
I am going to break down what we know about this battle within the party. Nowhere is the tension better illustrated than a secret recording made inside a Cardiff branch meeting.
You can listen to it here:
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