Written question WQ100992
- Asked by
- Darren MillarConservative
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 7 days
Question
Will the Welsh Government set out a) the total public funding provided to the Development Bank of Wales and its predecessor, Finance Wales, b) the amount returned to the Welsh Government, c) the current value of investments held, and d) the cumulative value of loans and investments written off?
Answer
Answered by Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy (Adam Price)
The Development Bank of Wales (including Finance Wales up to 2017) has received £1.9bn of funding from the Welsh Government since 2001.
DBW operates its funding as a portfolio to manage risk and returns. Current forecasts across all delivery show that the full capital allocation will be repaid on a portfolio basis.
To date £188m has been transferred back to Welsh Government, noting larger investment funds operated by DBW were initiated post the launch of DBW in 2017 and are still live. Recycling of the funds within elements of the portfolio supports effective budget management to increase the capacity to reuse public capital. Conclusions drawn from the data requested should, therefore, be considered in this context.
As at 31 March 2026, the Development Bank of Wales reported investment assets with a carrying value of approximately £733 million. This does not reflect the current bank balance against which some repayments to Welsh Government are planned.
This comprised £327.4 million of loans, £347.6 million of shared equity investments, £53.5 million of equity investments, £4.0 million of convertible loan notes and £0.4 million of other fund investments.
Further detail is provided in the Consolidated Balance Sheet (page 89) and in Notes 13 and 14 of the 2025/26 Annual Report and Accounts.
Write offs to date over the 25-year period amount to c. £70m against this funding (this excludes European funding).
Matters relating to the accounts of the bank are complex and we are open to further dialogue to support the interpretation of information provided here.