, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Motion under Standing Order 17.42(vi) and (ix) to resolve to exclude the public from the remainder of this meeting
I note Members are content. Can we go into private session, please?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Motion under Standing Order 17.42(vi) and (ix) to resolve to exclude the public from the remainder of this meeting
Members, can I propose, in accordance with Standing Order 17.42(vi) and (ix), that we resolve to meet in private for the remainder of today's meeting? Are Members content?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Thank you. A record or a transcript of this meeting will be sent to you to check for accuracy before it's published. Otherwise, that brings this session to an end. I thank you again, both of you, for being with us today, and for having written to us initially…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Thank you.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Thank you very much indeed. Well, that brings to an end our formal questions. Do you have any final comments on any matters we've not covered, before we finish?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Thank you. So, in summary, was this a case of evidence-led decision making or decision making leading the evidence? Or could you not possibly comment?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Mike Hedges, please.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Thank you. As you may be aware, throughout this Senedd term, this committee has explored the Welsh Government's arrangements for the oversight and review of arm's-length bodies—the Welsh Government's arm's-length bodies—in different ways. What, if any…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Professor Ridgway, did you want to add something?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Okay, thank you. Moving on, what is your take on the statement given to the committee on 12 February by the Welsh Government that it could have handled elements of the closure process of Industry Wales 'a bit differently', and what would you identify as the…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Perhaps it's worth noting, as you mentioned AMRC in Broughton, that that was originally established, if I remember correctly, with Wrexham University, and that was then transferred to Sheffield university, which perhaps indicates the consequences—
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Thank you. Mike Hedges.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Thank you. I'll bring in Tom Giffard, please.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Thank you. Before I bring in the next Member, because you referred to the human aspect of this, and the well-being aspect of this, more broadly, what message do you think this gives to people currently employed in, or considering, future employment in, or…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Okay, thank you. Could I bring in Adam Price, please?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Do you know why the Welsh Government triggered the review, what led them to instigate this, and, if you do, what their objective was when they began the process?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Thank you. Are you okay?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Okay. Thank you very much indeed. Can I bring Mike Hedges in, please?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Professor Ridgway, do you have anything to add?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Thank you. Just to clarify, it purely relates to the auditor general's qualification of December 2023, before you had taken over.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Okay. Thank you for clarifying that. What action did the Welsh Government take following the Auditor General for Wales's qualification in December 2023 of his regularity opinion on your 2022-23 accounts, due to the failure to follow public procurement…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Thank you. Professor Ridgway.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Okay. Thank you very much. On 12 February, in evidence to the committee, the Welsh Government said 'the world has shifted a lot since 2013', when Industry Wales was first established. Was this changing landscape reflected in the Welsh Government's term of…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
Okay. Thank you. Professor Ridgway, do you wish to add to that?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Industry Wales: evidence session with the Chief Executive and Chair
As convention has it, I'll start the questions as Chair, but all the Members will have some questions for you. I'd be grateful if you could start by describing, in your view, how the Welsh Government's oversight arrangements for Industry Wales, as one of its…
